2nd December 2015 – K Cube Ventures, investment specialists in mobile, internet and technology have invested US$690k (KRW 800m) into mobile game developer Affinity. Affinity is the developer of mobile game Historia. The Affinity team were specially brought together by Song In Su, the previous director of Joy City, who sought to bring individuals with success in creating popular games. The key team members have an impressive combined experience in creating popular…

Collaboration tool startup ‘collabee’ announces that it has received pre-Series A investment led by Mega Investment and joined by Venture Square.  The undisclosed investment was finalised in November, 2015.  This is their second investment after their initial seed investment from Mashup Angels in May. Collabee aims to disrupt the current market that’s come to be so largely populated by messenger (eg., Slack) and task (eg., Asana) based collaboration tools. Collabee utilises the…

Social Network, a specialist platform servicing Korean trends (wave) has secured an investment of US$4.3m (KRW 5b) from Korea Investment Partners, Mirae Asset Investment, POSCO technical investment and Intellectual Ventures. In 2012, Social Network secured their early stage investment of the same amount from Travel Doctor, Shinhan Bank and Hong Kong’s Evo Revo. The total amount for investment is now close to US$9m (KRW 10b). Productions from Social Network includes; Sketchup, the top…

Mr Pic the operator of used car O2O (online to offline) service ‘ChutCha’ has secured an investment of US$1.3 (KRW 1.5b) from KDB Industry Bank. This investment follows MrPic’s success in July after securing US$1.3m (KRW 1.5b) three way investment from East Gate Partners, DSC Investment and Song Hyun Investment. This brings the yearly investment total to US$2.6m (KRW 3b). Mr Pic, debuted ‘ChutCha’ in January 2015 and has amassed more than 300…

Zitko, a Korean health care wearable device startup has received US$1m (KRW1.2b) investment from IBK Capital and SBA (Seoul Business Agency). This investment follows a recent investment from ‘The Creation Investment’ to bring total for recent investments to US$1.7m (KRW 2b). Zikto is a healthcare product that monitors walking steps and corrects body posture. After releasing their ‘Zikto Walk’ on the 5th of October, the company has received praise for the product’s design…

Chinese Venture Capital (德同资本)company, DT Capital have followed other VCs in the recent trend for Korean beauty products, with an investments into B2Link. This is the fourth investment into the company following investments from DSC Investment in September last year and January this year and an investment from another Chinese company, KTM Network in September. DT Capital have an impressive investment portfolio in over 200 global companies. Since being recognized by Forbes as…

Baemin Fresh, a service dedicated to delivering the freshest food products has acquired ‘The Food’, Korea’s leading traditional side dish delivery service. Following the acquisition, the company announced that it will commence services in household convenience goods as of 23rd November. The Food commenced started in 2005 and since launching the traditional Korean side dish shopping mall has become the leader in this service. To date the company has fulfilled over 700…

‘포브스’가 최근 발표한 ’40대 이하 가장 부유한 미국 기업인 40명’에서는 ‘소셜네트워크와 공유경제 그리고 메신저’ 이 세 가지 키워드가 두드러졌다. 소셜네트워크는 사실상 페이스북의 독주 무대였다. 1, 2위를 차지한 마크 주커버거(순 자산 471억 달러, 한화 약 54조 원)와 더스틴 모스코비츠(약 97억 달러, 한화 약 11조 원)를 비롯하여 페이스북과 직간접적으로 관련된 인사까지 포함하면 무려 8명이 이 명단에 이름을 올렸다. 페이스북 이외에는 핀터레스트가 CEO인 벤 실버먼(Ben Silbermann)을 포함한 3명이 포함되어 있고, 트위터의 잭 도시(Jack Dorsey) 역시…

On the 23rd November, the acquisition of Padang, a service providing mobile beauty information in Korea (operated by Gentle Family) acquired by Vanity Trove of Singapore, a startup specializing in beauty related information and operation of contents community. Padang was founded by four members with the aim of providing information of beauty shops in Seoul including any promotions, appointments, location, additional information, and customer reviews. Since starting in April 2015, the company had…

On the 20th November, Birdview, the company behind ‘Hwahae’ Korea’s most popular mobile cosmetics app, revealed that it had been successfully acquired by the NICE group. Hwahae (Cosmetic Analyst) allows its users to easily recognize chemical and active constituents contained within each cosmetic product. The review of each cosmetic product is sorted by the skin type relevant to the user. Since its debut in July 2013, Hwahae has amassed more than 1.5…

Stripes, an O2O startup offering tailored men’s fashion has secured additional investment US$4.3m. On the 2nd November, the company, determined to become a comprehensive brand for men’s fashion launched its first oversea branch in Singapore. Lee Seung Jun from the company commented, “After studying the Asian market, we determined a high consumer preference towards Korean products”. The company plans on further oversea launches following the acquisition of ‘Dream Factory’ a manufacturer of luxury…

Social activity platform Friend Trip revealed on the 17th November that it had received US$1.2m (KRW 1.5b) in new investment. This is the second investment for the company and follows a US$500l (KRW 500m) last June. Friend Trip commenced as a startup with the aim of creating an innovative approach to interacting with leisure and travel culture. The platform delivers on this objective by creating a communication platform connecting new people based on…

Korean smartphone accessory startup ‘Bench Soft’ has garnered much attention from the market with its unprecedented type of USB memory device. “Xl.i.CON Flash Memory” is Bench Soft’s USB flash memory that sticks like a magnet when it is used with its ingenious iPhone smartphone case made with the X-Link technology. CES recognized Bench Soft’s remarkable idea, and gave the award to the USB flash memory and case set. The CES Innovation Awards…

보석용 인공 다이아몬드 제조 스타트업인 ‘다이아몬드 파운드리(Diamond Foundry)’가 지난 11일 최근 3년간의 축적된 생산 과정을 일부 공개했다. 관계자에 의하면, ‘다이아몬드 파운드리’는 얇은 슬라이스 형태의 다이아몬드 원석 위에 *플라스마를 이용해 원자 층을 쌓는 방식으로 다이아몬드를 제조하며, 이러한 방식으로 2주에 9캐럿을 생산할 수 있다고 전했다. 이때 플라스마 형성을 위해 태양 표면(5,500°C)보다 뜨거운 8,000°C의 반응기를 이용한다. *플라스마(Plasma) : 기체상태인 물질에 계속 열을 가하여 온도를 올려주면 이온 핵과 자유전자로 이루어진 입자들의 집합체가 만들어진다. 물질의 세 가지 형태인 고체, 액체, 기체와…

On the 17th November, Softbank ventures announced that it had made an investment into HyperConnect a communication application startup. The total of the investment was revealed to be US$8.6m (KRW 10b) and was provided jointly with Altos Ventures. HyperConnect Inc. started in March last year with the aim to connect the people of the world with the most effective and economical means. Their communication app ‘Azar’ allows easy live chat with other users…

지난 3일 ‘트위터’가 별 모양의 ‘선호(favorite)’ 버튼 대신 하트모양의 ‘좋아요(like)’ 버튼을 도입했다. 이 변경 건에 대해 그동안 일부 소비자들이 냉소적인 반응을 나타낸 것으로 알려졌으나, 이러한 결정이 되돌려지기는 어려울 것으로 보인다. 제품 총괄 수석부사장인 케빈 웨일(Kevin Weil)은 “버튼 변경 후 한 주 동안 전 세계에서 기존 사용자들의 버튼 사용량이 6%나 증가했다”면서, “트위터의 규모를 생각해볼 때, 6%의 증가라는 것은 상당히 의미 있는 수치”라고 밝혔다. 그는 이와 더불어 신규 사용자들의 경우 기존 대비 9%나 증가했다고 전했다. 케빈…

Editor’s note: Senior Director Corporate Development at Baedal Minjok I. There is a Chaebol in Korea that is nameless. No HQ, no CEO, not even an email. It has massive worldwide influence; setting trends in Asia within a matter of hours. The nation’s economy fluctuates with the slightest movement of this corporation. The organization’s dominant power and reach far surpass the ranks of Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. Combined. There is not a…

글로벌 액셀러레이터 와이컴비네이더(Y Combinator)의 대표 샘 알트먼이 스타트업들에 조언을 주는 ‘스타트업플레이북’을 만들며 와이컴비네이터 창업자이자 수필가인 폴 그레이엄의 행보를 따르고 있다. 무언가 새로운 것을 시작하고 싶거나, 스타트업에 관심이 있다면 샘 알트먼이 스타트업플레이북을 통해 전하는 인사이트를 참고하기 바란다. 샘 알트먼의 글 중 일부를 정리해 보았다. 좋은 아이디어를 가진 자는 왕과 같다. 하지만 모든 사람이 당신의 아이디어를 듣는 즉시 좋아할 리 없다. 대부분의 사람은 비웃으며 콧방귀를 뀔 거다.  아이디어를 도용당할 걱정에 모든 것을 비밀에 부친다면…

Woman’s Talk, Korea’s first online mobile beauty home shopping has succeeded in attaining a Series A investment of US$1.7m (KRW2b). With their launch in February titled ‘Korea’s first online beauty home shopping’, Woman’s Talk is the leading video commerce platform in Korea. The platform relies on a distinctively unique marketing strategy, utilizing a range of product ambassadors that appear in their media including reporters, actors, show hosts, comedians, Youtube channel hosts and…

Makeus, a Multi Channel Network startup has successfully secured the largest Korean investment into MCN (Multi Channel Network) in recent news. The investment totaling US$17.4 (KRW 20b) has been provided by venture capital companies DSC Investment, KTB Network, Capstone Partners and Stonebridge Capital secures US$17.4 m. With the rising trend towards new media, MCN companies have been attracting great interest from investment companies.  Of the recent investments into similar companies, this is…