Permira targets growth firms in high valuation markets

London-based private equity firm Permira will maintain its focus on high-quality companies and sector leaders with strong growth potential as valuat...

Hyundai Motor, Motional unveil IONIQ 5 self-driving robotaxi

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its US mobility joint venture Motional Inc. on Tuesday unveiled their first autonomous robot...

OTT startup Watcha expands into music distribution service

South Korea-based over-the-top (OTT) startup Watcha Inc. is ramping up efforts to transform into a comprehensive content data company as it expands ...

Overseas crypto exchanges end Korean services ahead of rule tightening

Overseas cryptocurrency exchanges are ending their Korean services, including language support as well as trading and payments in Korean won, as Sou...

S.Korean telcos accelerate diversification amid strong Q2

South Korea’s two largest telecom companies, SK Telecom Co. and KT Corp., have both delivered strong second-quarter results driven by rapid gr...

Hyundai Heavy to reposition as tech platform for vessels

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group is making big steps forward to transform itself as a platform business in the global shipbuilding sector. According t...

AI startup Return Zero transforms phone calls into texts

South Korea-based startup Return Zero is enhancing the quality of life for people through its voice recognition app, Vito, which provides phone call...

Kakao to strengthen subscription services after Q2 results

Kakao Corp. this year has reported the highest second-quarter earnings in company history.Its regulatory filing on Aug. 6 posted an operating profit...

RBW, label behind Mamamoo girl group, seeks Kosdaq listing

RBW Inc., the label behind K-pop star Mamamoo, is looking to go public after HYBE Co., the music and entertainment agency behind BTS, made a big h...

Woowa Brothers launches last-mile indoor food delivery robot in Seoul

Woowa Brothers Corp., South Korea’s top food delivery app operator, has launched a last-mile indoor robot food delivery service, as people inc...

NPS bets big on property development as asset prices soar

The National Pension Service (NPS) has been increasing its appetite for office buildings in the development stage as part of an effort to snatch up ...

Grocery delivery platform Oasis valuation tops $650 mn; eyes US expansion

South Korea-based grocery delivery platform Oasis Corp., referred to as Oasis Market, has attracted 50 billion won ($44 million) from global private...

Govt pension fund makes first foray into overseas infrastructure

South Korea's Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) has awarded a combined $105 million mandates to Goldman Sachs, Macquarie and Paris-based A...

LG invests $88 mn in Kakao Mobility as both seek new growth opportunities

LG Corp., the holding company of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate LG Group, is investing 100 billion won ($88 million) in Kakao Mobil...

Atlas Labs makes it easy to transcribe phone calls via AI technology

South Korean startup Atlas Labs is making it easier for people to keep track of their phone conversations via Switch, an app that uses artificial in...

Goldman mulls redemption option for Coupang loan, but still undecided

Goldman Sachs has begun researching its right to call in the 300 billion won ($265 million) loan it provided against Coupang Corp.'s two distributio...

Korea’s leading e-book startups eye IPO in 2022

South Korea’s leading e-book platforms are targeting to go public next year. The country’s subscription-based e-book service provider Mi...

LX Group’s Pantos to enter e-commerce market with fulfillment service

Pantos Co., the logistics unit of South Korea’s newly established LX Group, is entering the global e-commerce market by launching a worldwide ...

HiteJinro's fruit-flavored soju becomes huge hit among Russian MZers

South Korea's leading soju maker HiteJinro Co. has been enjoying great success in Russia thanks to strong demand for fruit-flavored soju from local ...

Service marketplace Soomgo raises nearly $30 mn in Series C round

South Korea-based Brave Mobile Inc., the operator of service matching platform Soomgo, has secured 32 billion won ($28.6 million) in a Series C fund...

Delivery service provider Barogo wraps up $72 mn Series C round

Logistics IT platform service Barogo has successfully wrapped up an 80 billion won ($72 million) Series C round, far above the company's initial tar...

Laundry service Wash Swat wraps up $16 mn Series B round

South Korea-based laundry service startup Wash Swat Inc. has secured 17.5 billion won ($16 million) in Series B round funding, bringing the company'...

Hyundai Motor pilots EV mobility service for pets

Hyundai Motor Group will pilot an urban mobility service for pets in Seoul, using a specially designed Ray EV model by Kia Corp. The group said on A...

GS Galtex to partner with Kakao for mobility services

South Korea's GS Caltex Corp., aiming to become a logistics platform, will invest around 30 billion won ($26 million) in Kakao Mobility Corp. to str...

Kakao forays into pet taxi service; buys Pet Me Up

South Korea-based Kakao Mobility Corp., a subsidiary of mobile giant Kakao Corp., has acquired the country's leading pet taxi service, Pet Me Up, in...

GM Korea to cut production; carmakers call for govt action

The South Korean arm of General Motors Co. has become the country’s first automaker forced to cut production due to the global semiconductor c...

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...

Serial entrepreneur builds gateway for cloud services

“You see all of these buildings? All of the companies in these buildings will become our clients."These were the words of Lee Han-joo, chief e...

SK Innovation buys 13% stake in China’s EV battery-swap station operator

SK Innovation Co. has signed a deal to acquire a 13% stake in a Chinese electric vehicle battery-swap station operator, as the South Korean company ...

Calls grow for further or indefinite extension of short-selling ban

South Korean retail investors are speaking out against the lifting of a one-year ban on stock short selling ahead of its resumption scheduled for mi...