Baemin Fresh, a service dedicated to delivering the freshest food products has acquired ‘The Food’, Korea’s leading traditional side dish delivery service. Following the acquisition, the company announced that it will commence services in household convenience goods as of 23rd November. The Food commenced started in 2005 and since launching the traditional Korean side dish shopping mall has become the leader in this service. To date the company has fulfilled over 700…

On the 23rd November, the acquisition of Padang, a service providing mobile beauty information in Korea (operated by Gentle Family) acquired by Vanity Trove of Singapore, a startup specializing in beauty related information and operation of contents community. Padang was founded by four members with the aim of providing information of beauty shops in Seoul including any promotions, appointments, location, additional information, and customer reviews. Since starting in April 2015, the company had…

Korea’s top car-sharing app maker ‘Socar’ has successfully secured a series B investment from SK and Brookside Capital part of Bain Capital for an amount of US$56m (KRW 65b). In October 2014, Socar secured a Series A investment of US$15.5m (KRW 18b) which was used to secured the required vehicle and parking infrastructure which in turn paved the way for growth and offering of new services. As a result of this earlier investment, Socar…

On the 20th November, Birdview, the company behind ‘Hwahae’ Korea’s most popular mobile cosmetics app, revealed that it had been successfully acquired by the NICE group. Hwahae (Cosmetic Analyst) allows its users to easily recognize chemical and active constituents contained within each cosmetic product. The review of each cosmetic product is sorted by the skin type relevant to the user. Since its debut in July 2013, Hwahae has amassed more than 1.5…

Stripes, an O2O startup offering tailored men’s fashion has secured additional investment US$4.3m. On the 2nd November, the company, determined to become a comprehensive brand for men’s fashion launched its first oversea branch in Singapore. Lee Seung Jun from the company commented, “After studying the Asian market, we determined a high consumer preference towards Korean products”. The company plans on further oversea launches following the acquisition of ‘Dream Factory’ a manufacturer of luxury…

Social activity platform Friend Trip revealed on the 17th November that it had received US$1.2m (KRW 1.5b) in new investment. This is the second investment for the company and follows a US$500l (KRW 500m) last June. Friend Trip commenced as a startup with the aim of creating an innovative approach to interacting with leisure and travel culture. The platform delivers on this objective by creating a communication platform connecting new people based on…

Korean smartphone accessory startup ‘Bench Soft’ has garnered much attention from the market with its unprecedented type of USB memory device. “Xl.i.CON Flash Memory” is Bench Soft’s USB flash memory that sticks like a magnet when it is used with its ingenious iPhone smartphone case made with the X-Link technology. CES recognized Bench Soft’s remarkable idea, and gave the award to the USB flash memory and case set. The CES Innovation Awards…

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…

Editor’s note: Senior Director Corporate Development at Baedal Minjok I. There is a Chaebol in Korea that is nameless. No HQ, no CEO, not even an email. It has massive worldwide influence; setting trends in Asia within a matter of hours. The nation’s economy fluctuates with the slightest movement of this corporation. The organization’s dominant power and reach far surpass the ranks of Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. Combined. There is not a…

Woman’s Talk, Korea’s first online mobile beauty home shopping has succeeded in attaining a Series A investment of US$1.7m (KRW2b). With their launch in February titled ‘Korea’s first online beauty home shopping’, Woman’s Talk is the leading video commerce platform in Korea. The platform relies on a distinctively unique marketing strategy, utilizing a range of product ambassadors that appear in their media including reporters, actors, show hosts, comedians, Youtube channel hosts and…

Makeus, a Multi Channel Network startup has successfully secured the largest Korean investment into MCN (Multi Channel Network) in recent news. The investment totaling US$17.4 (KRW 20b) has been provided by venture capital companies DSC Investment, KTB Network, Capstone Partners and Stonebridge Capital secures US$17.4 m. With the rising trend towards new media, MCN companies have been attracting great interest from investment companies.  Of the recent investments into similar companies, this is…

Kakao Corp. (KOSDAQ 035720) today reported third quarter financial results under Korean-IFRS. Kakao’s consolidated revenue for the quarter was KRW 229.6 billion with mobile businesses making up 56%. For the third quarter, Kakao focused on actively identifying and promoting new ideas and business opportunities. This led to uniform growth in mobile businesses, and consolidated revenue for the quarter grew 1.4% QoQ and 3.5% YoY. Kakao’s commerce platform showed the greatest growth in…

Japan’s first commercial jet, The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) – developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in half a century made its maiden flight on Wednesday. The two-engine aircraft, approximately 35 metres (115ft) long, flew smoothly upward into clear skies in central Japan. It is an important milestone for an ambitious effort by Japan to develop its aerospace industry. The flight seems to have gone well, with the Guardian reporting that it “flew smoothly upward…

Kakao will launch a pilot program called Kakao Farmer to deliver mandarin oranges produced in Jeju Island todeliver it to consumers when it is in its most delicious state. The pilot operation that began Tuesday will only be offered for three months. A 11-pound box (5kg box) of mandarin oranges will cost around $13 including delivery fees and the tangerines can be purchased through Kakao platform with kakao pay. Additionally Kakao has…

GlowDays the company behind GlowPick has received a Series A investment of US$1.3m (KRW 1.5b) from SL Investment,  Jafco Asia and ShinHan Capital.Glowpick is a cosmetic raking service that provides ranking based on consumer reviews of the product. The ranking process is somewhat different to other similar platforms in that GlowDays runs an algorithm to establish only credible and genuine review. A common problem in modern blogs and review platforms is the…

Netflix will invest $50 million in upcoming South Korean film Okja by Bong Joon Ho which will be co-produced by Plan B Entertainment, an American film production studio co-founded by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Okja is a monster movie about the friendship between a little girl and some type of creature. I hope it shares some DNA with Joon-ho’s best movie, The Host. The cast is nothing to shake a stick at,…

Samsung’s improved mobile VR headset is ready for the taking the ordering. Oculus announced Samsung’s Gear VR will ship on November 20 with pre-orders kicking off Tuesday. The device costs $99, and can be purchased through Samsung’s website, Amazon and Best Buy. (Full user manual link) Samsung built the new Gear VR to be lighter and more comfortable to wear than its predecessor. The headset can play “dozens of new made-for-VR games” headed…

10th November 2015 – Tenping, a public company providing real time mobile rumor service revealed it had received an investment from Capstone Partners. Tenping is a marketing service that allows advertising content to be released in native format. The app then releases this onto other social networks, blogs and mobile apps. Already more than 100 advertising companies have used the service to release over 600 advertising contents. Since launching in May last year, the…

Gormey, an app that is aimed at providing credible restaurant recommendations recently announced major updates for both iOS and Android releases.  Although there are many restaurant recommendation apps on the market, Gormey brings a whole new level of credibility by providing recommendations based only on reviews by food critics. After all, professionals that review food for a living are likely better candidates at providing recommendations. Gormey recommendations are driven by human curation…

SK Telecom has made a US$4.3m (KRW 5b) into MCN (Multi Channel Network) operator Treasure Hunter. Treasure Hunter is the creator and operator of famous and popular channels such as YangDding (YG Gaming Channel), Aligator and Eve Kim.  The investment is expected to boost the Hotzil channel which was launched on the 9th November as a channel for music, live and entertainment mobile video. SK Telecom highlighted their aim in improving the…