third party app store
Scope
Date
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Artificial intelligence
Samsung, Bayer join $90 mn investment in AI healthcare app Ada Health
Samsung Electronics Co. and Germany’s pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG have made a joint investment in the Berlin-based artificial intelligence (...
May 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank to invest $2 bn in Yanolja
Vision Fund, led by billionaire SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, has decided to invest around $2 billion in South Korea's largest travel platform Yan...
May 26, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
Travel app Yanolja seeks $900 mn from SoftBank pre-IPO
South Korea’s largest travel platform Yanolja is in negotiations with SoftBank Vision Fund for an investment up to 1 trillion won ($900 millio...
May 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Fashion platform Ably looks to raise over $20 mn
South Korea-based Ably Corporation, the operator of fashion platform Ably, is seeking to raise around 40 billion won ($35.3 million), attracting a p...
May 20, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Chat fiction app operator eyes global expansion, webtoon market
As smartphones have become essential to everyday life, chat fiction -- storytelling in the form of fictional text messaging -- has become popular am...
May 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
SoftBank Ventures invests in fashion app targeting middle-aged women
South Korea-based Queenit, a fashion mobile platform targeting middle-aged women, has secured around 5.5 billion won ($5 million) from a pool of hig...
May 13, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Delivery app Yogiyo bidders narrowed to Shinsegae, PEFs
Germany's Delivery Hero SE has narrowed down the list of bidders for South Korea’s second-largest food delivery platform Yogiyo to Shinsegae I...
May 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Heated shopping platform M&As shake up fashion industry
South Korea's fashion industry is all shook up following the No. 1 online fashion platform Musinsa's decision to acquire 29CM, the country’s s...
May 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Delivery app Yogiyo draws bids from retailers, PEFs
South Korea’s second-largest food delivery app Yogiyo has drawn about 10 preliminary bidders, including retailer Shinsegae and private equity ...
May 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Live commerce app Grip aims to take over the world via shopping
There's an app where users can shop as if they're video chatting with their friends. How does this work? A seller will introduce products via livest...
Apr 14, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Kakao to buy fashion app, pushing aside eBay Korea
Kakao Corp., South Korea's top mobile messaging app operator, is set to acquire a majority stake in Zigzag, a domestic online fashion platform targe...
Apr 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Sale of Korea’s No.2 delivery app Yogiyo kicks off with May 4 prelim bid
The sale of South Korea’s second-largest food delivery app Yogiyo has kicked off with the sell-side issuing an information memorandum to poten...
Apr 07, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Digital contents
Kakao in talks to buy US fiction app in heated IP rivalry
South Korea's mobile giant Kakao Corp. is in negotiations to buy the management rights of US-based mobile fiction startup Radish Fiction for around ...
Apr 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Revenue club
Korea’s top delivery app operator Woowa joins 1 trillion won sales club
Woowa Brothers Corp., the operator of South Korea’s top food delivery app Baedal Minjok, commonly known as Baemin, has joined the 1 trillion w...
Mar 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
KTB Network wins jackpot from Korean delivery app sale
KTB Network Co., a South Korean venture capital firm, has pocketed a double-digit return, or 62.5 billion won ($55 million) from the sale of its sta...
Mar 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Delivery Hero kicks off sale of S.Korea's No.2 delivery app Yogiyo
Germany-based online food delivery service Delivery Hero SE has kicked off the sale process of South Korea's second-largest food delivery app, Yogiy...
Mar 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
Avatar app Zepeto becomes playground for MZers
The Blackpink House is a bucket list destination for fans of the K-pop girl group Blackpink. The house is decorated with images of the group, curren...
Mar 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Naver invests €115 mn in Spain’s virtual marketplace Wallapop
Naver Corp., South Korea’s top online portal, has invested €115 million in Wallapop, a Spanish virtual marketplace, as part of its effort...
Feb 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Wealth donations
Founder of Korea’s top delivery app Baemin to donate over half his wealth
Kim Bong-jin, founder of South Korea’s top food delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin in short, has committed to donating more than half of hi...
Feb 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Match Group buys Korean video chat startup for $1.73 bn
Match Group, the operator of the world’s largest dating app Tinder, has agreed to buy 100% of South Korea’s leading video chat startup...
Feb 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Two thirds of Koreans use OTT services; YouTube favored
Two out of every three Koreans used over-the-top (OTT) media last year, with YouTube the favored platform from which to watch videos and other strea...
Feb 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Live commerce app Grip posts over $22 mn in transactions
South Korea-based live commerce app Grip saw its cumulative transaction amount surpass 24 billion won ($22.2 million), just two years after its ince...
Jan 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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EV Batteries
SK Innovation partners with EVE to launch third battery plant in China
South Korea-based SK Innovation Co. has entered into a joint venture with Chinese battery maker EVE Energy Co. to set up a third battery plant in Ch...
Dec 15, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Naver confident third time’s a charm in Japan's search engine market
South Korea’s portal giant Naver Corp. is hoping third time’s a charm as it gears up to re-enter the Japanese search engine market after...
Nov 26, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Naver, Kakao unsettled by Google's in-app payment policy
Global tech giant Google’s in-app payment policy has been coolly received by South Korea’s leading platform companies, fueling criticism...
Nov 25, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
Goldman Sachs joins race for Korea’s beauty store chain
Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area (PIA) has entered the race for a stake in South Korea’s health and beauty franchise CJ Olive Young, beco...
Nov 23, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
Anchor Equity, TPG invest $500 mn in Korean mobile banking app
Hong Kong-based Anchor Equity Partners has agreed to invest 250 billion won ($226 million) to buy new shares in South Korea’s KakaoBank, shortly...
Nov 17, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Webtoons
Kakao webtoon platform Piccoma becomes No.1 grossing app worldwide
Kakao Corp., South Korea's platform giant, announced on Nov. 9 that its webtoon (digital comics) platform Piccoma has become the No. 1 grossing mobile...
Nov 09, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
TPG to invest $222 mn in mobile banking app KakaoBank
TPG will acquire a 2.7% stake in South Korea’s mobile banking app KakaoBank for 250 billion won ($222 million) ahead of an initial public offeri...
Oct 27, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korea’s mobile banking app KakaoBank to push for 2021 IPO
KakaoBank Corp., the mobile banking arm of South Korea’s online messaging app operator Kakao Corp., is planning an initial public offering next ...
Sep 23, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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