The Ministry of SMEs and Startups
Scope
Date
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Philippines LCS Group buys Korea’s special purpose vessel maker
The Philippines’ LCS Group of Companies bought a South Korean special purpose vessel maker as it aims to supply defense products to the Southe...
Apr 05, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Venture capitalists in S.Korea enjoy record salaries in 2021
South Korea’s venture capitalists put record high investments into startups last year. Thanks to positive returns on investments, a number o...
Apr 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
SaaS provider Clika wants to lead S. Korea's MLOps market
The wider adoption of artificial intelligence around the globe calls for more data in the form of high quality photos, videos, and text. With t...
Apr 01, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Kurly applies for Korea IPO to raise about $800 mn
South Korea's Kurly Inc. on Monday applied for a preliminary review of its initial public offering, the Korea Exchange said, as the operator of groc...
Mar 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Art investment platform operator Yeolmae Co. raises $14 mn in Series B
South Korean startup Yeolmae Company announced Monday it received 17 billion won ($14 million) worth of funds through its Series B round. With the l...
Mar 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
Naver Z invests in multiple metaverse-related startups to beef up Zepeto
Naver Z Corp. invested in more than eight companies so far this year, according to people familiar with the deals. Naver Z is the operator of Asia...
Mar 23, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Star-studded vision AI startup SNUAI requires less data and time
“The first joint venture with the Seoul National University seal of approval” is how artificial intelligence startup SNUAI Lab Co. des...
Mar 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Acqui-hire practices increase in S.Korea’s startup ecosystem
Jobis & Villains, the operator of artificial intelligence-powered accounting platform 3.3, announced that it recently acquired video messenger s...
Mar 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
AI startup Twelve Labs secures $5 million in seed round
South Korean startup Twelve Labs announced Sunday it secured $5 million in a seed round from Index Ventures.On its website, the venture capital firm...
Mar 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Goldman exits Korean beauty startup without profit
Goldman Sachs has divested of its stake worth 75 billion won ($62 million) in South Korea's cosmetics startup GP Club Co. without a profit due to de...
Mar 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korean IPOs delayed after bourse's sweeping reshuffle
Scores of South Korean initial public offerings slated for the first half of this year have been delayed after the bourse operator carried out a lar...
Mar 17, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Private equity consortium buys 30% stake in biotech firm Medipost
South Korea’s first generation biotech firm Medipost Co. will sell a 30% stake to a private equity consortium, the company announced after W...
Mar 17, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Biotech startup Voronoi withdraws IPO plans
South Korea’s biotechnology startup Voronoi Inc. scrapped its plan to go public this month. The new drug developer announced Wednesday it...
Mar 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Service robot maker Bear Robotics raises $81 mn in Series B
South Korea’s robotics startup Bear Robotics Inc. announced Wednesday it raised $81 million in Series B funding from venture capital heavywe...
Mar 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Aerospace & Defense
LIG Nex1, Eugene plan $80.5 mn fund for Korea defense startups
LIG Nex1 Co., South Korea’s major defense exporter, plans to set up a $80.5 million venture investment fund with Eugene Investment & Secur...
Mar 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Nine out of 10 VC heads in S.Korea say startups overvalued: Survey
Heads of South Korea’s leading venture capital firms say domestic startups have entered a phase of overvaluation. The Korea Economic Dail...
Mar 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Visual effects startup VA Corp joins ranks of unicorns
Visual effects production startup VA Corporation announced Monday it received 100 billion won ($80.4 million) from private equity fund Paratus Inv...
Mar 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Translink and Banks Foundation form $10 mn fund for S.Korean startups
South Korea’s venture capital firm Translink Investment and non-profit organization Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs agreed to launch ...
Mar 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Edtech startup Riiid joins Fast Company's list of most innovative firms
South Korea’s AI education startup Riiid has made it onto Fast Company's annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Since 20...
Mar 11, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
AI startup InterMinds builds Smart Stores with conglomerates
Convenience stores are hotbeds for South Korean IT companies to test their artificial intelligence (AI) technology.That is because the establishment...
Mar 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Korea’s Voronoi in talks with global firms on drug designs
South Korea’s biotechnology startup Voronoi Inc. is in talks with global biomedical companies on drug designs as it aims to expand the busines...
Mar 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean SMEs
Smart factories drive Korea SMEs to reshore overseas plants
South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises adopted smart factories for survival as the digitalized facilities improve productivity and q...
Mar 03, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Ridi becomes first Korean content platform unicorn
Ridi Corp., often referred to as South Korea's Kindle, has received funding of 120 billion won ($100 million) from Singapore's GIC and three domesti...
Feb 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Chicken startup shakes up crowded market with robotic arms
Preparing fried chicken requires a simple, but laborious process: Placing pieces of chicken on dough and frying powder; putting them into an iron ba...
Feb 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Live commerce platforms like Grip to keep growing in Asia Pacific: Google
In April 2021, there were some 200 unicorns in the Asia Pacific region, second only to the United States which had 290 startups each valued at $1 bi...
Feb 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean drone manufacturer aims for 2023 Kosdaq IPO
South Korea's commercial drone manufacturer Nearthlab plans to apply for an initial public offering this year to get listed on the junior Kosdaq mar...
Feb 17, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean biotech startup signs license deal with US firm
South Korea's biotech startup Novelty Nobility Inc. has signed a global license agreement for its antibody treatment candidate with a US biopharmace...
Feb 17, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
KAIST Holdings to open US offices with $8.4 bn value in mind
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on Tuesday announced the blueprint to strengthen its foothold in the United States an...
Feb 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Blurring lines between accelerators and VCs with record fundings
Sopoong Ventures Corp. is poised to create a fund worth 10 billion won ($8 million) that specializes in early stage investment, industry insiders sa...
Feb 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Korean VCs bet big on pet care startups
Startups in the pet industry are gaining traction on the back of a rising number of pet owners in South Korea. Industry insiders say several pe...
Feb 10, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
Latest News
- 1 Hyundai, Waymo forge multi-year, strategic partnership for self-driving vehicles
- 2 AI startup MarqVision raises $16.5 mn to close Series A
- 3 Taihan Cable wins $630 mn power grid project in Singapore
- 4 Korean startup scene is gloomy, say 2 out of 5 startup CEOs
- 5 MBK ups stakes for Korea Zinc to match buyback offer