As reported by Business Korea, the  Korean government recently announced that it plans to relax regulations on new innovation-driven industries, including as financial technology (fintech) and the Internet of Things (IoT). This is a positive regulatory signal for local startups in these industries that have struggled against regulation. It also bodes well for the new startup accelerator in Seongdo, that will run its first hardware / IoT / Smart home program in 2015. At…

Social Commerce In Korea Is A hot Topic These Days With Coupang’s Recent $300 Million USD Fundraise – Here’s a Review of the Market from our friends at Business Korea. In May 2010 social commerce arrived in Korea, thanks to local player, TMON. In the same year two other local players also started operations, Coupang and. Four years later, three companies are still operating at a loss, engaged in fierce competition. Coupang has…

Based in Seoul, Chinese language education company CHINADA have secured $1 million USD from Soft Bank Ventures and Coolidge Corner Investment. Their digital educational program ‘Chinatan’ is unlike other typical systems that focus on grammar and reading. Instead it is aimed towards improving conversational skills. It simulates real life situations, such as markets, restaurants, university campus, hotels, etc. This allows students to experience day to day situations experienced by locals. To build…

국내 최대규모의 비즈니스센터 전문기업인 ㈜르호봇 비즈니스 인큐베이터(대표 박광회)가 오는 12월22일 전남 광주에 최신 시설을 갖춘 ‘르호봇 광주 비즈니스센터’(광주광역시 서구 치평동 1176-3 상무타워 5층)를 오픈한다고 12월15일 공식 발표했다. 22일 정식 오픈하는 ‘르호봇 광주 비즈니스센터’(센터장: 이원구)는 최근 비즈니스 요충지로 떠오르고 있는 광주 상무 지구에 위치하고 있으며,광주뿐만 아니라 전라남도 지역의 창업 랜드마크로써, 입주고객에게 차별화된 사무공간과 업무지원 인프라를 제공할 예정이다. 또한 ‘르호봇 광주 상무 비즈니스 센터’는 입주사 간 또는 외부 기업과의 거래 연결 서비스를 제공하며, 입주기업을…

파킹스퀘어가 대규모로 업데이트된 파크히어(PARK HERE) 2.0 버전을 출시했다고 밝혔다. 파크히어(PARK HERE)는 평균 60% 할인된 가격으로 주차장을 실시간으로 예약할 수 있는 서비스로, 현재 서울/경기 지역에서 이용 가능하다.  새로 출시된 파크히어 2.0는  △ 3000여개의 주차장 정보 △ 주차장 추천 기능 △ 간편한 결제 방식 △ 적립 혜택 등이 특징이다. 사용자는 장소와 시간만 입력하면 조건에 맞는 주차장을 추천 받을 수 있다. 서울시에서 제공하는 2000개 이상의 주차장 정보에 더하여 파크히어가 직접 발로 뛰어 모은 1000개의 주차장…

Yello Mobile’s location-based SNS ‘1km’ has announced the launch of their international version, which now supports ten different languages including English, Chinese, Spanish, and Thai. Riding the current of ‘Korean-Wave’, they are targeting South-east Asian and Latin American countries, which are hotspots for Korean popular culture. There is a long term plan to expand their global coverage further in the future. The app, which uses GPS to connect people within a 1km…

모바일 소프트웨어 개발 기업 탐생(대표 설태영)은 오는 14일(일), 안드로이드 공부앱 ‘스터디 헬퍼’의 스터디 그룹 서비스 업데이트를 실시한다고 밝혔다. ‘스터디 그룹’은 같은 목표를 가진 학생들이 서로의 공부량을 비교하며 의지를 다질 수 있도록 한 서비스다. 스터디 헬퍼 유저라면 누구든 자유롭게 스터디 그룹을 만들고, 참여할 수 있다. △고입 △대입 △고시 △외국어 △자격증 △취준 △기타 등 총 7개 카테고리로 구성되어 있으며, 공부량 비교 기능과 함께 △매일 오전 자동으로 갱신되는 ‘그룹별 순위 측정 기능’ △그룹원에게 모르는 문제나…

스마트폰의 보급으로 모바일 활용 빈도가 늘어나며 결제, 포인트 적립 등의 수단들도 점차 간편해지는 추세다. 앞으로는 길거리 자판기에서도 현금 없이 앱 포인트 등을 활용해 물건을 구매할 수 있게 될 것으로 보인다. 서버 엔지니어링·UX 전문 업체 이케이웍스(www.ekayworks.com 대표 신동민)는 개인을 알아보는 자판기 ‘스마트벤딩머신’의 판매를 본격화한다고 12일 밝혔다. 스마트벤딩머신은 디지털 사이니지와 자판기 기능을 융합, 그리고 거기에 이케이웍스가 특허를 보유한 블루투스 기반 스마트폰 센싱 기술 ADS™를 더한 제품이다. 앱과 연동하여 스마트폰으로 자판기를 조작할 수 있고, 이를 통해 현금 없이 신용카드나 포인트 등의 간편한 모바일 결제 수단을…

DEV Korea’s Startup Acceleration Program ‘Start it Up in New York’ Demo Day will be held in seoul this afternoon. DEV Korea is one of a growing number of domestic and international accelerators in Seoul that are capitalizing on the rapid growth in the domestic startup ecosystem Sparklabs will also hold their demo day December 11. DEV Korea was nominated as the 2014 Global Accelerator Develop Management Agency by the Ministry of…

“We want to be the Amazon of Korea. We are the largest online retailer here, and we’re one of the most well-funded tech companies in Korea.” CEO of Coupang, Bom Kim in an interview with Forbes To accelerate this growth Coupang has just announced another huge funding round, worth $300 million USD, from BlackRock Private Equity Partners. This follows fast on the heals of another $100 million USD round led around five months…

Two weeks after the third anniversary of founding Between, the world’s largest social network for couples, has hit a major milestone, achieving 10 million global downloads. Since launching 3 years ago, Between has enjoyed 100% year-on-year growth. What is perhaps even more encouraging is that in 2014, much of this growth came from overseas markets, such as Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Japan hit its 1 million local downloads earlier this year,…

모바일 광고 네트워크 기업인 ㈜모코플렉스가 자사의 통합 광고 플랫폼인 ‘애드립’과 글로벌 모바일 광고 기업인 스마토의 플랫폼을 RTB 익스체인지로 연동, 보다 강력해진 글로벌 네트워크 서비스를 제공한다고 10일 밝혔다.  ‘애드립(Adlib)’은 모바일, 웹 광고를 게재할 매체를 보유한 퍼블리셔용 플랫폼인 ‘SSP(Supply Side Platform)’ 와 광고 게재를 원하는 광고주용 플랫폼인 ‘DSP(Demand Side Platform)’를 모두 제공하는 통합 광고 서비스 플랫폼이다. 2012년 매체사 및 앱 개발자들과 광고 네트워크를 중개하는 ‘미디에이션’ 서비스로 출시된 이래 꾸준히 성장, 국내 모바일 앱 광고의…

According to the Korea Small Business Institute, small and medium enterprises running their own research institutes suffered from a technology outflow worth $5.6 billion between 2011 and 2013. The amount was equivalent to 58% of their R&D expenditures for the same period. The sales decrement caused by the tech leak was $2.27 million on average, or around 20% of annual sales. However, despite knowledge of the problem, most companies have not make…

Perhaps in response to user concerns around privacy, Daum Kakao has just introduced ‘Secret Chat’ mode and ‘Decline Invites’ features for their KakaoTalk messenger, adding a higher level of privacy to the service. The new features provide users with increased options on how communications are carried out – and with whom. Secret Chat mode is a new type of chatroom that employs end-to-end encryption on all messages exchanged within the chatroom. The…

This is part two of this story. Part 1 here In 2010 when Bong-jin Kim left’ Naver’ (Korea’s primary online search portal), he had no idea about Venture Capital or ‘Exit’. Additionally, he had no interest in global expansion. He built his startup to focus on solving ‘small issues that Koreans face in their daily lives’. Yesturday we discussed how he raised his first three rounds of funding. Today we look at how…

모바일 로컬 플랫폼 기업 제로웹이 지난 5일 경주 드림센터에서 열린 부산정보산업진흥원 주최 ‘2014년 IT·CT산업 발전 유공자’에 선정되었다. IT·CT산업 발전 유공자는 부산지역 경제 활성화에 기여하고, IT·CT산업 경쟁력 강화에 이바지한 기업에 수여되는 상이다. 제로웹은 스마트폰 홈페이지 국내 시장 점유율 1위 기업으로, 지난해 4월부터 KNN, 부산은행과의 업무협약을 통해 부산지역 중소상공인들에게 스마트폰 홈페이지를 무료로 보급하고 있으며, 모바일 홈페이지를 기반으로 한 모바일 커머스 서비스, 로컬 네트워크 광고 시장까지 사업영역을 점차 확장하고 있다. 최근에는 LG유플러스와 업무협약을 체결하여 소상공인을…

In 2010 when Bong-jin Kim left’ Naver’ (Korea’s primary online search portal), he had no idea about Venture Capital or ‘Exit’. Additionally, he had no interest in global expansion. He built his startup to focus on solving ‘small issues that Koreans face in their daily lives’. That is how Baedal Minjok started. But recently his ‘startup’ raised $36 million USD from Goldman Sachs. He concluded, “if a person like me who had…

  As Seoul establishes itself as one of the key hotspots in Asia for startups and entrepreneurs, a large number of events aimed at entrepreneurs are springing up to support this growth. Here is a calendar of events for startups and entrepreneurs in Seoul, from November 20th to November 27th. Check in soon for the next instalment. We are also happy to add your startup-focused event to our calendar. If you’d like…

We reported recently that Chinese investors have been making inroads into Korea. Now we are seeing the first signs of what fruits those investments are likely to bear. As reported by Business Korea, Korean gaming companies are beginning to target the Chinese mobile gaming market, in partnership with Tencent. In a new trend for the Chinese internet giant, Tencent is now actively opening its doors to Korean companies interested in entering the…

eBook store ‘Ridibooks’ just announced an $8 million investment from Neoplux, Atinum Investment, Company K Partners, and Mirae Asset Ventures. Ki-sik Bae, a representative from Ridi Corporation has gained notoriety in the local publishing market as he has consistently been dedicated to returning around 75% of the profits from sales on his platform to the writers since 2008. This was around the time that the first iPhone was released. During a previous…