Microsoft recently announced that it intends to fully enter the Korean internet search market later this year. This does not seem wise in a market that has been utterly dominated by Korean players for over a decade. Yahoo withdrew from the market after a fifteen year failed push into Korea. Google has fared a little better, having now climbed to around 10% – 15% market share, but it has been a long…

Junghee Ryu is a rare breed of Korean entrepreneur. Not only did he found a tech company that sold to Intel, but now he has decided to reinvest his returns into the Korean startup ecosystem and has opened his high-tech accelerator, FuturePlay, for business. Junghee founded Olaworks, an augmented reality technology company in 2006 and sold the company to Intel in 2012 for a reported $30M. Olaworks and a Silicon Valley-based tech company, both of which…

Korean gaming giants, Gamevil and Com2us, which were in fierce competition for the last 15 years, are now actively seeking to create synergy in line with their M&A deal that we reported last year. Following Gameville’s acquisition of Com2us, the two firms have working towards release of their new combined platform HIVE, which is now live. After struggling against the huge success of KakaoTalk’s gaming platform (released in July 2012), the two companies…

Rakuten Ventures today announced the launch of a $100M global investment fund. This fund builds on the success of the Southeast Asia fund, which was launched in 2013 and counts Carousell, Visenze, Coda Payments and Send Anywhere among its investment portfolio. The investment in Send Anywhere is Rakuten’s first investment in a company outside South East Asia and their first in a South Korean startup, ESTMob. The new fund will target investments…

CHINCHIN is a social dating app that is creating a new type of interaction for the dating scene by connecting you with friends of your friends. This in a bid to remove the dangers of connecting online with complete strangers. Recently at beLAUNCH, the company won the Asan Nanum Foundation Prize, and $18k as a non-equity cash investment. With the increasing levels of spam on Facebook, people are now less willing to talk…

A team of Korean Engineers, PhD-level Neuro-scientists and ex-Googlers is taking on one of the most feared brain diseases we face in the modern age. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) kills around 500,000 each year and the cost of care globally is estimated at $220Bn per annum. While this degenerative disease has no cure, YBrain has developed a solution for slowing the affects, with a rate of success believed to be greater than any…

페블의 에릭 미기코브스키는 스마트 워치 페블의 창업가이자 CEO로, 2012년 12월 크라우드펀딩 플랫폼인 킥스타터에서 역사상 최고 금액인 1,030만 달러(한화 약 109억 원)의 초기 자금을 모아 약 27만 명에게 예약판매를 시작했다. 미국에서 본격적인 판매를 시작한 지 5일 만에 품절되었고, 지난 달 IT 미디어 벌지(Verge)는 페블이 누적판매 수 40만 개를 돌파했다고 밝힌 바 있다. 웨어러블 혁신 분야의 가장 뛰어난 글로벌 리더로 손꼽히는 스마트 워치 페블의 CEO, 에릭 미기코브스키가 지난 달 14, 15일 양일 간 개최되었던…

[metaslider id=”17793″] After the successful releases of BeNative apps in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, SMATOOS is expanding its service with Speak Real English, an “English to English” learning application that helps English language learners practice through video lessons. With this app, SMATOOS hopes to provide an alternative to stuffy textbook learning and offer support to help users cultivate practical and natural-sounding English skills. “Speak Real English” features video content of real native English speakers filmed around…

MyRealTrip, a Korean startup that provides overseas travelers with personalized guided tours in thier mother tongue has just announced their third round of funding. SmileGate Investment led the round, contributing 70% of the funding, with Capstone Partners joining. This Series A round has provided an injection of almost $1M to help the company build out their Android and iOS mobile apps and expand to include Chinese travelers visiting Korea, as well as…

Korea’s startup ecosystem is growing. Of that I am sure. What I am less sure of though is whether this growth is the result of government involvement, or in spite of it. As President Park finished off her first year at the helm of Korean politics she promised more money, but gave little indication as to how the money would be spent, and having worked closely with the government on several projects…

S. Korea announces $540 million post-genome project SEJONG, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) — The South Korean government announced Wednesday the official launch of a post-genome project that seeks to develop and commercialize new genomic technologies. The project consists of five major goals that include the creation of a standardized human genome map. It also aims for developing indigenous technologies for analysing human genes and for genome-based diagnosis and disease treatment. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2014/02/19/0504000000AEN20140219003900320.html S. Korea’s…

더 이상 새로울 것도 없는 ‘공유경제’이지만, 게스트·호스트·플랫폼 3자가 모두 수익을 창출할 수 있다는 점에서 그 성장세는 앞으로도 지속될 것으로 예상된다. 지난 2013년 세계 공유경제 규모는 51억 달러(한화 5조2,224억 원)에 이르며, 매년 80% 이상 성장하고 있다. 특별히 개방적인 마인드와 함께 합리적인 소비를 추구하는 여행객들의 성향 덕에 여행 산업에서 공유경제는 꽃을 피운다. 공유 숙박 서비스 ‘에어비앤비(airbnb)’는 이제 공유경제 비즈니스의 대명사가 될 정도. 국내에서도 ‘에어비앤비’와 유사한 ‘비앤비히어로(bnbhero)’라는 서비스가 등장하기도 했다. 에어비앤비와 프로세스가 유사하지만 시점을 조금 비튼 해외의…

Editor’s note: 이종철 기자는 인디뮤직 웹진을 거쳐 현재 IT 전문지 월간 웹과 DITODAY닷컴에서 일하고 있는 인물. 문화와 예술, 인문학과 사람을 좋아하는 기술전문 기자다. 월간 스타트업 인터뷰 relay talk와 주간 인터뷰 젠틀맨 리그를 진행하고 있다. 별도로 인디문화 포털을 조직 중이며 콘텐츠 기획 대행, 에디터 교육, 자동차 칼럼니스트, 브랜드 스토리텔링 등 돈주면 다 한다. 기사 쓸 때의 원칙은 ‘어려운 기술은 쉽게, 쉬운 인터뷰는 어렵게, 실망하게 해드리겠습니다’. ‘비론치 2014′에 방문해 온 종일 스타트업 부스를 발로 뛴 그가, 주목할만한 스타트업 20개를 선정했다.   ▶태그: 키워드로만 검색해서 해당 서비스를 찾아보실 수 있습니다. 컨트롤+F 혹은…

I have been following the story of Kakao Corp closely over the last two years and its been an interesting ride so far, due to get much more so with the merger announced this week on betech.asia. While ‘many’ are confused about the benefits of a rising Kakao merging with Daum Communications, an internet portal in decline, I believe that there are a few key factors that ‘many’ are missing. Kakao Corp. – A Brief Intro: Kakao Corp…

StyleShare CEO Jayoung Yoon is only 25 years old, but has built a formidable fashion and style platform and has just secured a further $2.5M to expand her vision globally. This series B investment from LB Investment follows a seed round from Primer (20M KRW), and a seed round from Suprema & the founder of Daum ($08.M). StyleShare as a mobile fashion contents platform that allows users to share what they are…

Kakao Corp, this week has announced an agreement to buy Korea’s second largest domestic Internet-portal operator Daum Communications in an all-stock deal. It is hoped that the deal will boost the merged entity’s presence in on both Web and mobile services. The deal comes at a time when tech analysts are heralding the end of messaging 2.0, as most independent messaging services which have seen enormous growth recently will now have merged or been…

Hello Market, who have just announced their first funding round of $2.5M, is a C2C marketplace platform service that allows users to sell, buy, and exchange goods and services through mobile platforms (Android, iOS) as well as the web. According to Co-Founder Alber Hahn their goal now is to continue to apply, update, and expand upon the craigslist C2C commerce model, with a current focus on further expansion into Japan. The Hello Market…

Over the last year collaboration between the startup ecosystems in North and South Asia has seen greatly increased velocity as resources come together to enable the rising tide in Asian entrepreneurship to accelerate. And in recent days Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI), an accelerator based in Singapore, and the Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs (Banks Foundation) a community centre for Korean entrepreneurs in Seoul, have announced a partnership. This formal collaboration aims to…

BeLaunch 2014 kicks off this Wednesday in Dongdaemun, but It’s a fair bet that some of the contenders in this year’s startup battle are still perfecting their presentations. I did competitive pitches for almost 10 years in the PR industry and now I’m telling the world about my current company. From this experience, I’ve found some clear attributes that winning pitches have. Here’s the list: 1. Tell a Great Story Your slides…

Startup Asia in Singapore has just ended and the team has already announced their 2014 winners and runners up. While the top spot and $10k prize went to a Hong Kong team, Bindo, first runners up are a team that will also be showcasing at beLAUNCH 2014 in Seoul next week, May 14-15. Kairos Watches, a South Korea-based startup that manufactures a hybrid mechanical smartwatch . Second runner-up is Asli Goli, a…