China Da the operator of China Tan, a digital Chinese language teaching service has secured investment from Mirae Assets, Softbank Ventures and Coolidge Corner Investment. This investment is the second investment for China Da, which secured an initial investment last year from Nexplat Korea, Lake Investment, Softbank Venture and Coolidge Corner Investment. Within one year of launching, the number of users has increased each month by 20 per cent. In creating their educational content,…

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…

On September 1, Softbank Ventures Korea announced a joint investment deal with Capstone Partners for an amount US$920k which is to be invested into Gaudi Audio Lab. When founded, Gaudi Audio Lab’s mission was to provides the ultimate sound experience that integrates sound and feeling.  This sound solution technology is aimed at complementing the emerging AR and VR markets. Key members include experts at the Wilus Institute of Standard and Technology who led…

On the 28th August, Softbank Ventures announced its US$1.7m investment into Converse who have developed the anonymous communication app called Around. Around is a SNS app that allows users to freely share their feelings about life, workplace, emotions, love affairs and family. Being an anonymous SNS platform, there is no need to cloak any of these feeling for social acceptance. Users of around have given the app a score of 4.9 out…

On the 23rd August, Soft Bank Ventures confirmed their decision to invest into Brave Company is an internet publishing company. This investment is worth US$670k made up of $420k from Capstone Ventures and $250k from Soft Bank Ventures. Brave Company was formed in 2012 with the purpose of providing a platform optimised for the purposes of online lectures and learning materials. The purpose developed platform professionally organises lecture materials and courses.  …

  As announced in Sparklabs Bi-Monthly Review, Korean startup Jandi confirmed that it has raised an angel round of nearly US$2 million, co-led by Softbank Ventures and Cherubic Ventures. Jandi is a business communication platform for PC, iOS, and Android devices that allows teams to securely and instantly communicate while also easily being able to share files, search through past messages, and more. There are, of course, other apps that address these concerns,…

MangoPlate announced today a series A funding round from Softbank Ventures Korea. As described on their Google Play download page, “MangoPlate is your go-to app for discovering the best restaurants in South Korea. Available in English and Korean, MangoPlate will help you resolve your daily problem of where to eat by connecting you with trustworthy people as well as the best restaurants in South Korea.” Ryan Lee, Executive Director at Softbank Ventures Korea…

Hello Nature (Byung Yul Park, CEO), an online grocery retail startup, has announced a US$1.4 million investment from Softbank Ventures and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. Organic foods are popular among Koreans, and according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the organic food market is expected to reach near four billion dollars by 2014. Unlike other online grocery retailers in Korea, Hello Nature offers compact package delivery services called “nature-friendly…

미국 현지시간 26일 중국 거대 이커머스(E-Commerce) 회사인 알리바바가 뉴욕증권거래소(NYSE)를 통해 기업공개를 하겠다고 밝혔다. 알리바바는 이번 IPO를 통해 최대 약 20조 규모(200억 달러)를 조달할 예정이다. 미국의 그루폰(Groupon), 한국의 쿠팡, 중국의 알리바바 등을 통해 알 수 있든, 조 단위 이상의 기업 가치를 만들 수 있다는 것이 증명된 것이 이커머스(E-Commerce)다.최근 투자자 사이에 3년전 소셜네트워크분야에 대한 관심도가 높아지면서 투자가 활발하게 이루어졌지만, 실제 성과로 연결된 사례는 페이스북, 트위터 등 특정 몇 개 회사를 제외하고 찾아보기 힘들다. 하지만 커머스는…