SoftBank Ventures
Scope
Date
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Business & Politics
Naver to submit remedies to Japan without A Holdings stake sale
LY Corp., the operator of Japan’s popular messenger app Line, is expected not to propose Naver Corp.’s stake sale in its largest stakeho...
May 15, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Business & Politics
Korean government vows stern response to Tokyo’s pressure on Naver
The South Korean government said on Monday it will resolutely respond to any “unfair” measures by Tokyo against Naver Corp., which is re...
May 13, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Bio & Pharma
MedInTech attracts $14.6 mn series B investment
MedInTech Inc., South Korea's medical smart endoscopes startup, announced on Monday that it attracted a series B investment of 20 billion won ($14.6...
May 13, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate investment
Shinhan, POSCO invest $20 mn in Australian hydrogen startup Hysata
South Korean steel giant POSCO Holdings Inc. and banking conglomerate Shinhan Financial Group have invested a combined US$20 million in Australian g...
May 10, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Business & Politics
SoftBank to buy part of Naver's Line stake by July: CEO Miyakawa
TOKYO – SoftBank Corp., which runs LY Corp., the operator of the popular mobile messenger app Line in Japan, said on Thursday it is in talks w...
May 09, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
UAE to invest up to $1 bn in S.Korean ventures
The United Arab Emirates is set to invest a maximum of $1 billion in South Korean startups via a joint venture, as a part of its mid- to long-term p...
May 07, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Naver, SoftBank to discuss Japan JV’s ownership change
South Korea’s top online portal Naver Corp. and Japan’s SoftBank Corp. will kick off talks this week, during which they are expected to ...
Apr 29, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Electric vehicles
Kakao joins hands with LG Uplus to enter EV charger market
Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing platform, is set to make inroads into the electric vehicle charging market by setting...
Apr 29, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Bet on innovations with societal impact: Kakao Ventures CEO
In the past 10 years, Kim Ki-jun has been on the hunt for deep technology startups that will have a significant societal impact, and he will continu...
Apr 24, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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ESG
SK Telecom, SoftBank to collaborate for SV measurement
South Korea’s SK Telecom Co. announced on Tuesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in measuring social value...
Apr 23, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
SoftBank-backed Korean flea market app sees overseas growth
Danggeun Market Inc., South Korea’s largest online flea market service provider, enjoyed growth in other countries with its Karrot app briefly...
Apr 22, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Food & Beverage
Pepero enters Thailand’s King Power Duty Free
South Korea's Lotte Wellfood Co. announced on Friday that its thin chocolate-coated cookie sticks Pepero and no-sugar ice cream Zero entered King Po...
Apr 19, 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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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
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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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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Tech, Media & Telecom
AhnLab to form joint venture with Saudi SITE
AhnLab Inc., South Korea's information security solutions company, announced on Monday that it signed an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV)...
Apr 01, 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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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
Foreign venture funding for Korean startups picks up
South Korean startups raising funds from overseas venture capital firms nearly doubled in the first two months of this year from a year ago, heighte...
Mar 12, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Bio & Pharma
Vivid Health gets seed round from Kakao Ventures
Vivid Health, a South Korean startup that operates an obesity treatment management platform announced on Wednesday that it got a seed round investme...
Mar 06, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Kakao Ventures invests in AI optimization startup Omelet
Kakao Ventures Corp. has made an undisclosed amount of seed investment into Omelet, a South Korean early stage startup developing industrial operati...
Feb 29, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Mubadala ties up with Korea’s Woori for global investments
Mubadala Investment Co., Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, has joined hands with Woori Financial Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest fi...
Feb 28, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Earnings
SoftBank-backed Coupang posts 1st-ever annual profit in 2023
South Korea’s leading e-commerce platform Coupang Inc. on Wednesday posted its first-ever operating profit of $473 million in 2023, driven by ...
Feb 28, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
SK Telecom sees rise of personal AI assistants as game changer
BARCELONA – SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s top mobile carrier, sees the emergence of personal artificial intelligence assistants as a gam...
Feb 27, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Softbank to join SK Telecom-led global AI joint venture
BARCELONA -- Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. tied up with major global telcos such as South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and E...
Feb 26, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Automobiles
Korea’s HL Mando launches auto parts JV with China’s Tianrun
HL Mando Corp., an electric vehicle and self-driving system developing unit of South Korea’s HL Group, said on Thursday it has launched an aut...
Feb 22, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
AI device solution startup Sorcerics gets seed round
South Korea’s artificial intelligence (AI) smart device solution startup Sorcerics, founded by former Google and Microsoft employees, an...
Feb 22, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Altos Ventures invests $9.4 mn in Techtaka
South Korea's Altos Ventures announced on Tuesday that it has invested 12.6 billion won ($9.4 million) in the software-centric fulfillment company T...
Feb 20, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Venture downturn keeps Korean unicorns from acquisitions
South Korean unicorns, or private companies worth $1 billion or more, are increasingly refraining from taking over smaller startups for business exp...
Feb 16, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)