CJ ventures into fandom platform with $17 mn investment
CJ Group, one of South Korea’s largest family run conglomerates, or chaebol, is venturing into the fandom platform business with a 22.4 billio...
Fabless startup FADU eyes unicorn status with $157 mn funding
FADU Technology, a fabless startup that develops architecture for solid-state drive (SSD) controllers and storage products, is seeking to raise 200 ...
LG Electronics receives ISO certification for auto chip technology
LG Electronics Inc., a leading South Korean home appliance maker, has received ISO certification for its automotive chip development process, includ...
Quantum computing firm IonQ hit by short seller report
IonQ Inc., a US-listed quantum computing firm, has become a new target of short selling-focused Scorpion Capital, taking a hit from the US hedge fun...
Retail investment amount in startups triples on-year in Q1
South Korea’s retail investors are increasingly more bullish in startups than in manufacturing or retail firms. The Ministry of SMEs an...
Yoon admin to launch special startup-support track
The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration will lend extra support to the startup ecosystem – biotech and artificial intelligence firms in part...
Startup accelerator Klim Ventures secures $4 mn in bridge capital
South Korea’s startup accelerator Klim Ventures announced Tuesday it has secured 5.5 billion won ($4 million) worth of bridge capital. ...
S.Korean accelerators FuturePlay and Bluepoint Partners rev up for IPOs
South Korea’s two well-known accelerators FuturePlay and Bluepoint Partners are preparing for initial public offerings, buoyed by record high ...
Online education startup Day 1 Co. completes $28 mn Series D funding
Education content provider Day 1 Company announced Thursday it has completed a Series D funding worth 35 billion won ($28 million.)A number of ventu...
Korea’s tough IPO review drives bio startup to Nasdaq
A South Korean bio startup is aiming for a Nasdaq listing, deeming that the country’s exchange sets the bar too high for an initial public off...
Top-ranking S.Korean universities become hotbeds for promising startups
South Korean universities have become hotbeds for promising startups. Leading the trend are two of the country's best-known higher education ...
KDB resumes global venture IR event in Singapore
South Korea’s state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said on Thursday that KDB NextRound, the bank’s venture investment platform, will h...
Boryung takes 'health is wealth' to whole new level – space
South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical companies are expanding their footholds in the global space medicine market. Boryung, formerly Boryung Pharm...
Hyundai Motor expands partnership with quantum computing firm IonQ
IonQ and Hyundai Motor Co. announced a new project on Wednesday designed to apply quantum machine learning to image classification and 3D object det...
US and German startups funded by Mirae Asset join ranks of unicorns
Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co. is forecast to rake in more than 400 billion won ($325 million) for its investment in Moloco Inc. Mirae As...
S.Korea’s luxury e-commerce startups poised to become unicorns
South Korea’s e-commerce startups are enjoying massive hikes in their valuations on the back of robust online spending by millennials and memb...
Kakao's game unit behind Odin valued at $2.7 bn before IPO
Lionheart Studio Corp., the firm behind South Korea’s popular mobile game Odin, is preparing to go public as early as this year, with its ente...
Creator tech startup Awake Corp. attracts over $892,000 in seed funding
Awake Corp., a startup that operates platforms to assist online creators, recently attracted 1.1 billion won ($892,473) in seed capital. The total a...
Hahn & Co. buys Korean food startup in bolt-on deal
Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co. has acquired a South Korean meal kit provider for 75 billion won ($61 million), a deal expected to bo...
Startups need to embrace ESG, industry insiders say
Environmental initiatives such as RE100 and high Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards are not just for conglomerates anymore, accor...
Morgan Stanley PE closes first Korean buyout in 8 yrs
Morgan Stanley Private Equity has acquired a South Korean dietary supplements maker Life & Bio Co., in its first Korean buyout deal in eight yea...
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...
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...
Blue house brawl: South Korea spars over where next president will live
SEOUL—South Korea’s political division runs so deep now that the country can’t agree where the next president should liv...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Korea rises as test bed for global luxury brands
South Korea is becoming a test bed for global high-end brands such as Balenciaga, Valentino, IWC and Breitling. The world's top luxury brands, pre...
