Latest on Korean Startups

REITs
Koramco, Fi-public to collaborate on mobile REIT investment
South Korea's Koramco REITs Management and Trust announced on Friday that it plans to launch a personal REIT investment service utilizing a mobile platform through a business agreement with the domestic fintech startup Fi-public. Under this agreem
Apr 19, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Korea’s vision AI startup Superb AI eyes IPO in H1, 2026
South Korea’s promising vision AI platform developer Superb AI Inc., which has recently added generative AI to its business portfolio, is seek...
Apr 18, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Aerospace & Defense
Innospace, LIG Nex1 to co-work for space, defense business
South Korea's space launch startup Innospace announced on Wednesday that it signed a business agreement with LIG Nex1 Co. for cooperation and commer...
Apr 17, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Daesung PE tops Korean venture funds by return in 2018-2023
Daesung Private Equity Inc. in South Korea has become the top local venture capital manager in terms of realized capital gain between 2018 and 2023,...
Apr 17, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean unicorns slow growth to focus on profits
South Korean unicorns, or startups valued at $1 billion or more, are slowing the pace of growth to shore up their bottom lines as they revive l...
Apr 17, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korea’s Catchtable eyes offshore table reservation markets
Wad Corp., the developer and operator of South Korea’s most popular restaurant reservation app Catchtable, is considering offering Catchtable ...
Apr 17, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
South Korea’s chip design firms go abroad to tap $426 billion market
South Korea’s chip design companies are turning their sights overseas to tap into the 593 trillion won ($426 billion) system semiconductor mar...
Apr 16, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Korea's AI startup Upstage raises $72 mn for global expansion
Upstage, South Korea’s artificial intelligence startup, raised about 100 billion won ($72 million) in its latest funding round, which the comp...
Apr 16, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean unicorns’ failed global expedition causes growth concern
Woowa Brothers Corp. and Viva Republica Inc., South Korea’s most valuable unicorns, have pulled the plug on some of their overseas businesses ...
Apr 16, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Korean lidar venture SOSLab eyes Kosdaq debut in May
South Korean light detection and ranging (lidar) startup SOSLab aims to debut on the junior bourse Kosdaq in May, according to banking sources on Su...
Apr 15, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Paradigm Shift attracts $290k seed bridge investment
Paradigm Shift, the operator of the exercise diary app for middle-aged women Heroines, announced on Monday that it attracted a seed bridge investm...
Apr 15, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean startup CEOs away from home lead global expedition
South Korea’s promising startup founders, who normally double as chief executive officers for their companies, are leaving their home turf to ...
Apr 12, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
SoftBank-backed Balancehero still hungry for bigger market
In India, the world’s most populous country, about 1.2 billion people are estimated to have no credit score because most are unbanked, meaning...
Apr 11, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
LG CNS hosts Startup Day in Silicon Valley
LG CNS Co., an information technology service company under South Korean conglomerate LG Group, announced on Thursday that it held the Startup Day i...
Apr 11, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Bio & Pharma
Bio startup ArtBlood attracts $4.8 mn investment
South Korean bio startup ArtBlood, specializing in blood production for transfusion, announced on Tuesday that it successfully secured an investment...
Apr 09, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
South Korean drone startups rush to join military drone race
South Korean drone-developing startups are rushing to join the race to develop military drones to meet growing demand for drones fit for combat oper...
Apr 08, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Aerospace & Defense
Perigee, Hyundai Rotem to team up for SLV
South Korea's Perigee Aerospace Inc. announced on Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hyundai Rotem Co. to expand its bus...
Apr 08, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean games
Sandy Floor gets seed round from Kakao Ventures
South Korea’s casual multiplayer game developer Sandy Floor Games announced on Wednesday that it got a seed round investment from Kakao Ventur...
Apr 03, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Blight of failing e-commerce startups in South Korea
Linkshops, once touted as a future unicorn candidate in South Korea, declared bankruptcy last month even after garnering 15.4 billion won ($11.4 mil...
Apr 03, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Breezm lands in US with plan to open 100 stores in 5 years
Breezm, a South Korean startup making customized eyeglasses with artificial intelligence and 3D technologies, has opened its first offshore store in...
Apr 02, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Money pours in for technology to reshape Korean restaurants
Investors are betting big on food service technology startups in South Korea as the adoption of self-service systems in the country’s food and...
Apr 01, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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AgTech
Avalve to export $1.5 mn smart farm solution to Vietnam
South Korea's smart farm startup Avalve announced on Friday that it signed a total of $1.5 million in memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Vietn...
Mar 29, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
LG Electronics spins off X-UP, 4 other in-house venture firms
LG Electronics Inc. said on Thursday it is spinning off five promising in-house venture firms as separate entities to strengthen South Korea’s...
Mar 28, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Asan Nanum Foundation invites innovators to startup pitch
The Asan Nanum Foundation, a nonprofit foundation set up in 2011 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung’s death,...
Mar 26, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Wrtn opens free AI search service
South Korea's advanced tech startup Wrtn Technologies, a major player in generative artificial intelligence (AI), opened its free and unlimited AI s...
Mar 26, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
Samsung seeks to launch new super mobile banking app with a local bank
Samsung Financial Networks, a union of Samsung Group’s four financial affiliates, is seeking to launch a super mobile banking app in partnersh...
Mar 25, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
SM Entertainment founder invests $5.2 million in Mindlogic
K-pop pioneer SM Entertainment Co.'s founder and former Chief Producer Lee Soo-man is expected to invest up to 10 billion won ($7.5 million) in Mind...
Mar 25, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
S.Korea's drone market set for takeoff, led by startups
Starting in May, drones, not boats, will deliver parcels and even fried chicken to residents living on some of South Korea's remote islands unreacha...
Mar 21, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate investment
LG injects $97 mn into Vista Equity’s fund for new tech investments
LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, injected $97 million into a fund run by Vista Equity Partners Management LLC for investme...
Mar 20, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Big Tech engineers rush to Korea’s AI chip startups as potential looms
Big Tech engineers are flocking to South Korea’s promising startups specializing in artificial intelligence chips, a fast-growing sector in th...
Mar 20, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min read
Latest News
- 1 Seoul appeal: Korean art captivates Indonesia’s affluent connoisseurs
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- 3 Trump Jr. meets Korean business chiefs in back-to-back sessions
- 4 Samsung in talks to supply customized HBM4 to Nvidia, Broadcom, Google
- 5 Kookmin Bank raises $700 mn in forex bonds amid strong demand