Startup members and showcase organizers pose for a celebratory photo after successful completion of the showcase
Los Angeles, CA, November 14, 2017 – On Tuesday afternoon, KOCCA(Korean Government Agency’s Korea Creative Content Agency), in partnership with KOCCA US Business Center, IgniteSpark, and beSUCCESS, hosted a K-Digital Content Pre-IR Event on BEGINNING platform (http://bit.ly/2zGDd6q) in which they selected 13 up-and-coming Korean startups to present their companies to potential investors to secure funding for expansion into global markets. The startups ran the gamut from gaming to senior health to art, but all of them focused on the digital platform as the way of the future.
Photo 1: Pitchers, investors, and organizers meet in a digital conference
KOCCA, the host of this digital event, is the South Korean government’s leading agency in charge of supporting and advancing the cause of Korean creative content within South Korea and abroad. The K-Digital Content Showcase was conducted via a video conferencing system, allowing investors and venture capitalists from all over the world the exciting opportunity to participate in and get involved with these promising companies right at the beginning. Each company was allotted 15 minutes over the course of several hours to pitch their company, name their funding objective and intended use of the funding, and take questions from investors. Panelists were impressed by the presenters, with a few opting to discuss possibilities for future collaboration following the digital showcase.
The KOCCA's livestream exceeded my expectations. The presentations and quality of startups were of exceptional quality and well represented. I believe many of the companies have what it takes to succeed and I look forward to being involved in future events.– Kevin Suyong Yang, Cidy Side Ventures
In preparation for this digital showcase event, KOCCA went to great lengths to discover and select Korean startups that not only had a cogent vision for future expansion and development but also had something intrinsic to their companies that would improve the lives of global citizens for years to come. Without further ado, here are the startups that participated in the showcase and their visions for the future.
Technology
Though all 13 startups incorporated a digital platform, these two offer real innovation in the tech industry.
Mavlux, Inc.
Mavlux wants to reinvent the way companies (especially smaller companies with fewer resources) deliver content to consumers. Their idea is to utilize peer-to-peer (P2P) networks so that rather than delivering complete content to each consumer individually, companies can deliver a different part of the content to different consumers. These consumers will then share the piece of the content they have in exchange for a different piece of the content. This will dramatically reduce server traffic costs, and peers that share content have the ability to receive cryptocurrency in exchange, incentivizing more consumers to share content.
Linkflow
With 15 years of experience in Samsung electronics development, Linkflow is optimally placed to take the tech world by storm. They have designed a wearable, waterproof 360° camera system that rests unobtrusively around the neck like a necklace. With high quality and stabilized video, 8 hours of recording time, and livestream capabilities, these devices are perfect for consumers who want to preserve memories and security businesses and organizations alike.
Fashion
With the proliferation of Korean culture in the form of K-pop, fashion, and cosmetics, these companies have emerged as leaders in the consolidation and streamlining of Korean culture.
STYLEPILL
STYLEPILL sees a vacuum in the untapped global female millennial market for K-pop fashion and cosmetics and wants to be the first to fill it. With the introduction of “Style Ambassadors” that recommend products and bring in users, this mobile app is sure to be an invaluable resource for international K-Pop fans. Also offering free returns and a shipping service for fashion companies that don’t offer international shipping, competition will be hard-pressed to compete.
Gwabba
Gwabba knows how hard it is to find that elusive blouse or skirt your favorite K-pop star is toting in the latest photo shoot. That is why they want to help connect you with answers to your fashion queries and a direct route to purchasing those products. Clothes can be searched either verbally (text input) or graphically (photo input). Answers are Google-searchable, and savvy posters who answer queries will be rewarded, resulting in a myriad of eager consumers both asking and answering fashion questions.
Health & Education
Companies in this field are looking to systematically improve the world and help people in all locales. They have developed groundbreaking technology and approaches to universal issues.
Motionblue
Motionblue knows how important technology is and that it will only play an ever-increasing role in our lives in the future. For this reason, it is vital that new generations of children develop technological know-how as early as possible. Enter MOBLO, an educational tool that links physical play (in the form of blocks) to a digital interface and functions. Children will learn about not just technology, but spatial reasoning, music, language, and so much more through this interactive new toy. It’s so fun they won’t even realize they’re learning!
SPRYFIT
The staff at SPRYFIT have looked at the research – they know people the world over aren’t exercising as much as they want to. Yet every solution attempted before has failed. This is where SPRYFIT changes the game. Their revolutionary system has users bet on their own success. If they successfully complete their goal, they receive their money plus a payout from other users who failed to accomplish that same goal. This tangible reward system keeps users coming back for more, earning money and incentivizing themselves into shape at the same time!
Eidware
With their new app SoundMind, Eidware is targeting an often-ignored demographic in the technology field – the elderly. With their groundbreaking elderly voice-recognition software, they have set out to design a game that is not only easy for seniors to use but also has the capacity to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s. By partnering with the healthcare industry and insurance companies, they hope to give much-needed attention and aid to those in the critical pre-dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage.
Culture
Though these startups target widely disparate aspects of culture, all have come up with ideas that pack a punch and are sure to impact culture in a very real way.
VR Leader
With the passionate obsession that K-pop inspires in fans, VR Leader has found a unique way to bring celebrities closer to their fans and vice versa. VR Leader’s CEO is a former K-pop insider, giving him unfettered access to celebrities and a specialized knowledge of the culture. The company has created a one-of-a-kind virtual reality experience in which users can follow a unique plot to go on virtual dates with their pop idols. What makes VR Leader stand out is that they boast both quality storyline content and superior celebrity content, creating a fulfilling and well-rounded experience.
Photo 2: VR Leader demonstrates the quality of both its story content and celebrity content
Beetm Co., Ltd
Beetm Co., Ltd utilizes a highly-skilled network of over 120 acclaimed content writers to produce both entertainment content and branded content. Their connections within the industry allow for close collaboration with famous celebrities to produce videos that actually spur sales. But their value isn’t restricted to branded content – they have produced a number of highly successful video series featuring famous celebrities that have aired widely in South Korea already.
BitGlim
One industry that has been largely left out of the technological revolution is art. It is just not easy to translate art to a digital platform. BitGlim is here to change all of that and bring about a second Renaissance internationally. With their real-world PASA Festival and online art platform Artemist, they want to bring art into the 21st century. No longer will new artists have to struggle to be discovered. With the unstoppable combination of the PASA Festival and Artemist, artists everywhere will have access to a much broader audience and excellent exposure.
Gaming
No digital showcase would be complete without startups in the gaming industry, but these companies want to go the extra mile and bring something completely new to the world.
Popjoy
With the proliferation and explosion in mobile games, developers really need to stand out in order to succeed. Popjoy does just that. By obtaining the licensing rights to well-known and much-beloved characters from popular Cartoon Network animated shows, they are tapping into a pre-existing and eager fan base. Furthermore, Popjoy brings even more to the table by incorporating unique special skills for each character, a story mode based on each show, and an exciting RPG style that gamers love.
Snow Pixel Co. Ltd.
Many people view Pokémon Go as a passing fad, but Snow Pixel Co. Ltd. saw it for what it was – an opportunity to see what does and doesn’t work in the augmented reality (AR) world. After carefully analyzing the game for its strengths and weaknesses, they came out with their own superior AR game based on the Transformers world that incorporates RPG and PvP elements plus an engaging mission for users to always keep an eye out for optimal real-world objects that can be converted into Transformers characters through the game. TRANSFORMER AR will be the next Pokémon Go, except it will be here to stay.
Blackspot
The Blackspot team has expert knowledge of the gaming world. With several first-person shooters (FPS) games on the market already, they are well-versed in the mechanics of game development. They are known in the gaming industry for their highly customizable settings and high production value. Their latest and greatest project is a game in the burgeoning open-world FPS genre. The open world format provides infinitely more options for gamers to interact with the game and discover its contents. It is a huge project, but surely one that is bound to pay off, given the success of open world games and the noted absence of good open world FPS games.
The passion and energy of these startups is truly a sight to behold, and they will be taking their pitches to a live, in-person showcase (http://bit.ly/2zGDd6q) in Los Angeles hosted by KOCCA in collaboration with KOCCA US Business Center, IgniteSpark, and beSUCCESS on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. This will be an opportunity for these groundbreaking companies to obtain the funding to pursue their dreams and bring their phenomenal products to the international stage.
About KOCCA
The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is South Korea's leading government agency overseeing the advancement of Korean creative content, both domestically and internationally. KOCCA covers a wide range of Korea's creative industries, including gaming, animation, character licensing, music, fashion, and broadcasting. KOCCA actively advances these industries via production support, marketing and promotion, global expansion abroad, human capital development, and cultural technology implementation.
