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…

500 Startups: Asia is all about the mobile internet. And one particular country, home of amazing food and amazing connectivity has quietly been a technology leader not just regionally but worldwide. That’s right, I’m talking about Korea: home of 2NE1, PSY, Samsung, and a quickly growing tech startup scene. For a country of roughly 50 million people, Korea is disproportionately important in technology. Did you know that it was ranked second in the world…

Top Asian VCs with Global Impact Panel Saemin Ahn (Managing Partner of Rakuten Ventures) Saemin Ahn (“Sae”) is the Managing Partner at Rakuten Ventures. Prior to Rakuten Ventures, Sae was at Google for 5 years from 2008 to 2013 managing Sales and Business Development for Asia. Along with writing in spare time, having been named one of Quora’s 2013 Top Writers, he has made investments ranging from C2C marketplace, payment infrastructure technology…

The Wearables Revolution   Eric Migicovsky (CEO/Founder of Pebble) Eric Migicovsky is the founder and CEO of Pebble Technology, the company behind the Pebble watch, a smartwatch for iPhone and Android. The first model of the smart watch was the InPulse model which was built while Migicovsky and his friends were still in university. In 2012, the team launched the most successful Kickstarter campaign to date which raised over $10M . (…

Aviram Jenik is a rare entrepreneurial breed in Korea. He has built and exited two global companies and his third venture, Beyond Security, is working steadily towards an IPO in the US. In his free time Aviram makes Angel Investments in and coaches Korean entrepreneurs. I caught up with him recently to learn about his experiences as an Angel Investor in Korea. Disclaimer: Ok, before you think you’ve missed something, Aviram is…

Soujanya Bhumkar, Coolris CEO, will speak at this years beLAUNCH conference, Korea’s premier start up and tech event. The explosion of the selfie has become part of creating a new type of human experience and  Cooliris believes in augmenting the impact of these snaps, through personal media which is shared privately. Coolris was founded on the core principal of improving the user experience when browsing media and information on the web.  From…

WeMakePrice Tops Charts for Growth in 2013 Korea’s major social commerce operator WeMakePrice announced on February 17 that it came on top in terms of growth rate last year among mobile applications. According to the “Mobile App Growth Rate Top 100 for 2013” which was surveyed by Ranky.com on the basis of the usage logs of 60,000 Android handset users, WeMakePrice marked a growth rate of 935.9 percent last year, ranking No….

Food delivery in Korea is among the best in the world, and there are now two heavyweights battling it out for ultimate supremacy. Yogiyo was founded by Team Europe as a quasi-copycat app to the existing local player, and allows ordering by either calling the restaurant directly or by using an in-app quick messaging service. As a foreigner, the addition of the quick messaging service is really handy. It means I don’t…

미래창조과학부 산하의 준정부기관인 정보통신산업진흥원(NIPA)이 오는 5월 14, 15 양일간 개최되는 스타트업 콘퍼런스 ‘비론치2014(beLAUNCH2014)’에 실버 스폰서로 합류한다. 이번 행사에 후원사로 참여하는 정보통신산업진흥원은 정보통신산업의 고도화와 미래 신산업 창출을 미션으로 하여 정부의 정보통신산업 정책을 총괄적으로 지원하는 기관으로, 기존의 정보통신연구진흥원, 한국소프트웨어진흥원, 한국전자거래진흥원 등 3개 기관의 관련 업무를 통합하여 설립되었다. 정보통신산업진흥원은 창업 및 글로벌 기업 육성, SW산업 경쟁력 강화, 창의적 융합을 통한 성장동력 창출, 창의융합형 인재 양성, 산업현장 중심의 전략기획 선도 등 5가지 목표 하에 다양한 전략과제를…

Digital Video Ads Created in 20 Minutes, and for $50. This promise from Shakr Media, the Korean startup that is dedicated to re-imagining everything to video, is ready to rev up local auto dealer advertisements. The company, which has demonstrated a dedication to ‘going global’ by setting up offices in San Fransisco, today announced that it has added nearly a dozen video advertising styles for auto dealers to its drag-and-drop simple video creation solution….

‘한국과학창의재단’, 비론치 2014 골드 후원사로 참여 미래창조과학부 소관의 재단법인이자 준정부기관인 한국과학창의재단(KOFAC)이 오는 5월 14, 15 양일간 개최되는 스타트업 콘퍼런스 ‘비론치2014(beLAUNCH2014)’에 골드 스폰서로 합류한다. 이번 행사에 후원사로 참여하는 한국과학창의재단은 과학기술에 대한 국민의 이해를 도와 지식수준을 높이고 과학기술이 널리 보급, 이용될 수 있도록 하며, 창의적 인재육성을 통해 국가 발전에 기여함을 목적으로 하는 기관이다. 이번 비론치 콘퍼런스 후원 역시, 잠재력이 큰 국내 스타트업의 성장에 힘을 실어주기 위한 목적으로 추진되었다. 한국과학창의재단은 창조교육의 확산과 창조경제의 기반이 되는…