Kakao Talk Promises that encrypted messeging will be available this year Daum Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s most popular mobile messenger Kakao Talk, said it plans to adopt a “privacy mode” in an apparent bid to allay users’ concerns about security. There has been much in the Korean press on this matter recently and Telegram has been making the most of the situation, garning massive local suport in Korea. “The new…

Until a couple of weeks ago Koreans had never heard of Telegram, the super-secure Berlin-based messaging app that is now causing waves. Telegram is attracting droves of Korean users away, for increased security. In Korea, KakaoTalk is installed on 95% of smartphones, and Kakao messages surpassed SMS messages a few years back. Kakao is known for its ease of use and expressive emoticons. But now Kakao, which has established a near-monopoly in Korea, is facing a serious…

Edited from Business Korea: Korea is once again proving to be a market where rapid adoption of new tech services (particularly mobile) can occur at phenomenal speed. Samsung’s Milk Music, Kakao Corp’s peer to peer payments service, and Berlin-based Telegram messenger are the most recent examples. These services have attracted hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers in the first few weeks after release in Korea, the world’s ‘most wired nation’….

Sparklabs fourth batch recently kicked off and I had the chance to speak with one of their most promising startups, OnnuriDMC. OnnuriDMC operates a mobile advertising platform, CrossTarget, that the founders believe has solved a major issue for mobile advertisers; being able to track users in the mobile app environment in real time. Background In the PC environment advertisers are able to easily track user behavior through cookies, but this is generally…

실리콘밸리 메세징 스타트업인 메세지미(MessageMe)가 야후에 10월 3일(현지시각) 인수됐다고 테크크런치가 보도했다. 메세지미는 2012년도에 창업되었으며, 2012년도에 트루벤처스로부터 약 150만 달러(한화 약 16억원)을 투자받은 것을 시작으로, 2013년도 3월에 190만 달러(한화 약 20억)을 추가 투자 유치했다. 같은 해 5월에는 구글벤처스, SV엔젤, 안드레센 호로위츠 등으로 부터 약 1,000만 달러(한화 약 106억 원) 가량을 시리즈 A 단계로 투자 유치했다. 메세지미는 작년 3월 iOS 버전 론칭 후 같은 해 500만 유저를 달성했지만, 그 후 특별한 성과를 내지는 못했다. 최종 업데이트는…

As reported in Business Korea, Chinese handset maker Huawei is launching a mobile handset offensive against domestic powerhouses Samsung and LG, in the Korean market. The company will begin their invasion with a new flagship smartphone, set to compete with the more economical domestic options. Samsung Electronics will also make a stronger effort in the Chinese market to increase its market share, particularly in premium level handsets. Huawei is planning to target…

For as much as the last fifteen years Korea has been emerging as one of the front-runners in global tech innovation, but has failed time and time again to capitalize fully on the opportunities. Smartphones, 4G mobile internet, MP3 players, social networks, and mobile payments are just a few examples. Nowadays, the U.S. and China, not Korea, are spearheading the growth of these markets and Korea is at a dangerous position, likely…

SK 텔레콤이 미국 실리콘밸리 모바일 커머스 플랫폼 “샵킥(Shopkick)”을 인수했다는 사실을 월스트리트저널이 26일 보도했다. 이는 SK 텔레콤의 미국 커머스 시장 진출을 위한 움직임으로 보인다. 현재 구체적인 인수 조건 등은 밝혀지지 않았지만 그에 앞서 샵킥이 어떤 회사인지 알아보는 것은 의미가 있다. 샵킥은 2009년 6월 시리악 로딩(Cyriac Roeding), 제프 셀링거(Jeff Sellinger), 아론 에미(Aaron Emigh)등 3명이 공동 창업한 회사이며, 현재까지 3번에 걸쳐 총 약 2천 만 달러(약 209억 원)의 투자금을 유치했다. 주요 투자사로는 에스브이엔젤(SV Angel), 링크드인의 창업자인…

The second beGLBOAL in Silicon Valley, September 12th, clearly demonstrated that Korean entrepreneurship has come a long way in the last 12 months. Here we take a look at two of the companies that showcased at the event which again gathered some of Silicon Valley’s top investors and entreperneurs to discuss global entrepreneurship and investing. Ten carefully selected Korean startups also showcased, hopeing to attract the attention of US investors, partners and…

Kakao, the provider of KakaoTalk, a mobile messaging application and global mobile social platform, in partnership with global IT service provider LG CNS, has announced the launch of KakaoPay, a new mobile payment option for KakaoTalk users in South Korea. With over 93 percent of smartphone users in Korea currently using KakaoTalk, the new service is expected to provide a significant boost to Korea’s growing e-commerce industry. Kakao’s latest venture into the e-commerce/mobile payment space underscores…

Dates: Sep 15 – 16, 2014 Venue: Parc 55 Wyndham, San Francisco, CA GamesBeat 2014 is VentureBeat’s sixth annual event on disruption in the video game market. The event gathers top execs, investors, analysts, and entrepreneurs from the hottest companies to explore the gaming industry’s latest trends and newest monetization opportunities. This year’s theme is “Total World Domination.” Gaming is competing on the world stage to become the dominant medium for entertainment….

Korea has long been known for lightning-fast internet and mobile broadband speeds. Now the country’s startups are also garnering global recognition. In the last 12 months Korean founders have been backed by the likes of Y Combinator, Tech Stars, Sequoia Capital, Altos Ventures, and Formation 8. Two local ventures also achieved ‘Unicorn’ status (a valuation of $1Bn or more) earlier this year. Kakao Talk, the country’s dominant mobile social platform is now valued…

The profile of Korean entrepreneurship has been steadily increasing over the past three years and some have heralded 2014 as the year that could make or break this ecosystem on the move. beSUCCESS has been at the forefront of tracking growth of the ecosystem over the past three years through its media channels and global startup and tech focused conferences. The organization will hold its stateside event September 12th in San Fancisco….

Google, on an international mission to rapidly connect with the global startup community, has recently announced that it will open a startup campus in Seoul, Korea next year. This comes at a time when Korean entrepreneurs are beginning to prove that they have what it takes to make an impact, as exemplified by a statement from Google’s Bridgette Beam: “Korean innovators and entrepreneurs are some of the best in Asia, and Korean startups are making headlines around…

Healthcare wearables startup Ybrain announced today it closed on $3.5 million in Series A funding in a round led by Stonebridge Capital bringing company’s total raise to $4.2 million. The Korea-based startup, founded in Feb 2013 by a Caltech neuroscientist and Samsung engineers, offers healthcare wearables for Alzheimer’s disease patients. Ybrain is a brain signal based wearable device start up building mobile health and wellness solution platform for the healthy and impaired….

The award has recognized the company’s ability to ‘harness creativity and shape an impactful mobile ecosystem’ Kakao, the provider of KakaoTalk, Korea’s leading mobile messaging application and mobile social platform, has been named a 2015 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, making it the first Korean company to be recognized since 2001. Chosen from among 24 of the world’s leading technology organizations, the award recognizes the company’s ability to design transformative technological…

Korbit, Korea’s leading bitcoin exchange, wallet and merchant processor, has just closed a $3 million Series A funding round led by SoftBank Ventures Korea. Pantera Capital led the round from the US, with participation from BAM Ventures and previous investors Bitcoin Opportunity Corp., Tim Draper, Pietro Dova and initial investor Strong Ventures. Korbit launched their bitcoin exchange last year and have now added two new bitcoin services and aim to continue building the…

Mobile monetization and ad-tech firm Tapjoy has today announced that they have acquired Korean analytics and marketing automation firm 5Rocks.  5Rocks enables user segmentation, cohort analysis by app behaviour, purchase patterns, social activity, referral channel and more, and notifies developers when there are various anomalies detected in their data. Additionally, it had previously received US$2.3 million in funding from Japan’s Global Brain, after James Jung (CEO, beSUCCESS)  made an introduction at beLAUNCH 2013. “5Rocks is…

Spoqa is a Seoul-based startup that operates Dodo Points, a tablet-based loyalty platform for local merchants. Since its launch in April 2012, 1,500 local merchants in Korea signed up and Spoqa has driven 2.5 million customers to its partner merchants. Today the company has announced that it has closed its second round of funding, putting its total funding raised to $3.9M US dollars. With this round, Spoqa aims to aggressively expand its…

Easiaid is a Korean Start-up, obsessed with Media Mining, which seeks to track everything on TV shows in order to give Ad viewing power back to the customer. At a time when heritage advertising has lost its appeal and it efficacy, content producers are desperate to find new ways of monetizing content. The industry is wide open and innovation is leading future trends that could change the ways we consume branded content…