Korean gaming giants, Gamevil and Com2us, which were in fierce competition for the last 15 years, are now actively seeking to create synergy in line with their M&A deal that we reported last year. Following Gameville’s acquisition of Com2us, the two firms have working towards release of their new combined platform HIVE, which is now live. After struggling against the huge success of KakaoTalk’s gaming platform (released in July 2012), the two companies…

A team of Korean Engineers, PhD-level Neuro-scientists and ex-Googlers is taking on one of the most feared brain diseases we face in the modern age. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) kills around 500,000 each year and the cost of care globally is estimated at $220Bn per annum. While this degenerative disease has no cure, YBrain has developed a solution for slowing the affects, with a rate of success believed to be greater than any…

MyRealTrip, a Korean startup that provides overseas travelers with personalized guided tours in thier mother tongue has just announced their third round of funding. SmileGate Investment led the round, contributing 70% of the funding, with Capstone Partners joining. This Series A round has provided an injection of almost $1M to help the company build out their Android and iOS mobile apps and expand to include Chinese travelers visiting Korea, as well as…

Coupang, a leader in next generation e-commerce based in Seoul Korea, has raised $100 million in financing led by Sequoia Capital, with participation by existing investors Greenoaks Capital Management, Rose Park’s Disruptive Innovation Fund and LaunchTime. This investment comes at a time when rumours about a possible IPO at some point in 2015 abound in the local Korean startup ecosystem, and follows in the same week that Korea’s other ‘mega-startup,’ Kakao Corp….

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…

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…

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…

Korea, once referred to as the ‘Land of the Morning Calm,’ is emerging as one of the key startup hubs in Asia. I have witnessed firsthand the exponential pace of change in this once conservative and shy nation over the last ten years, and I am encouraged by the hunger with which local founders are embracing the challenge and opportunity presented by entrepreneurship. As predictable and arduous corporate careers begin to lose…

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….

1. Pantech Co., South Korea’s smallest smartphone manufacturer after Samsung and LG, recently raised concerns over a mobile carrier’s decision to cut the factory price of its smartphone, saying the two did not have an agreement on the matter. LG Uplus said it will slash the price of Vega Secret Up smartphones by 37%, to $577.92 from the previous price of aroun $900, claiming the move is meant to help Pantech expand…

1. Samsung has released its latest Galaxy S5 smartphone and wearables in 125 countries around the world as it battles squeezed profits and challenges to its top market position. Such a large simultaneous launch is the biggest of its kind for any of its previous products. The previous generation S4, the best selling android phone ever, started selling in 60 countries, and the Note 3 was first released in 58 countries. 2….

Korea is adapting quickly to bitcoin, and while there is some uncertainty about how quickly the cyber-currency will roll out more widely there are signs already that it is here to stay and hopes that Korea will become a leader in the industry. Already Korean Bitcoin startup Coinplug has raised two rounds of funding to rapidly expand their growth (see previous article here). The company has also quickly moved from a purely…

Last week Cookie Run, one of the most popular mobile games in Korea, celebrated its one year anniversary after a year that has been huge the game and the developer team behind it. The game has seen four consecutive quarters of outstanding revenue and two months ago released on LINE. Since this global release, Cookie Run had over 10 million downloads in Thailand alone, and the game continues to dominate in Asia…

This article gives a round-up of recent news from the Korean startup and tech environment. Please feel free to suggest updates and additional news. If you want to check out Korea for yourself, we suggest coming to Seoul, May 14-15, for beLAUNCH, Korea’s top tech and startup event. While the event is based in Korea we welcome startups from across the world and have secured a top line-up of global speakers who…

May 14-15 sees the return of beLAUNCH, Korea’s top tech and startup event for the Global Entrepreneurship Community. This year the event will be held in the brand new and impressive Dongdaemun design Plaza in the heart of traditional Seoul. Now that we are only a few short weeks away from launching the event we are able to officially release the full agenda for the conference that features some of the biggest…

SparkLabs, a startup accelerator in Korea, hosted its third Demo Day in Seoul yesterday.  While startups in earlier batches were all based in Korea, the most recent session welcomed companies from Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo and Seoul and sought to disrupt a wider range of industries from mobile music to wearable tech to professional online photo distribution, than previous batches which predominantly focused on mobile and e-commerce. This sets a trend which…