K Cube Ventures – specialist in mobile, internet and technology investments has invested US$500k (KRW 600m) into Mutzip, the provider of Hot Source an independent fashion platform. The name Hot Source refers to the independent platform’s ability to find ‘Hot’ trends and ‘Source’ fashion brands. The service is able to connect Korean independent fashion brands with buyers via mobile app and web base equipped with an easy transaction service. Mun Gun, the…

According to ‘The Bridge’ a  Japanese startup media service provider, ‘Blind’ an anonymous social networking service for company employees has received an investment from Japanese investment company Global Brain as well as Silicon Valley’s DCM. The company launched their social networking service back in December 2013 and was among the beGLOBAL San Francisco’s Top 10 startups in 2014. Currently, Blind’s aim to provide ‘Open Communication to a Closed Community’. The service provided…

Lockin Company, a specialist in mobile security solutions has received US$1.3 million (KRW 1.5b) in investment from KDB Business Bank. The investment comes within 2 years since its startup and has been sourced from a business bank rather than a traditional venture capital. This investment is the first of its kind in Korea from a major business bank into a startup still in its early stages. This investment reflects the level of…

Mobile digital homework diary service ‘I Am School’ has secured US$2.1m (KRW 2b) investment from LB Investment. I Am School is Korea’s first mobile homework diary service that captures 99% of the almost 63,000 bulletin boards used by 11,500 schools. Within 2 years of release, more than 1.3 million users subscribed to the service. The majority of the app downloaders were parents over 40 years of age; an age group that typically has…

November 5th, 2015 (Seoul, Republic of Korea) – A study last fall from Tecmark reported that the average smartphone owner checks their phone 221 times per day. The promise of devices like smartwatches is to reduce the number of those engagements. A new mobile app aims to simplifying replies to text messages, one of the most commonly used features of smartphones. TALKEY allows users to keep their smartphones in their pockets by…

November 3 – Seoul, South Korea – NEOFECT, a smart rehabilitation solution startup, has announced the launch of two new products within their RAPAEL Smart Rehabilitation System: RAPAEL Smart Body, and RAPAEL Smart Kids. The RAPAEL Smart Rehabilitation System combines wearable bio-feedback devices and software, which are designed to improve the recovery process for patients with central nervous system disorders. NEOFECT’s first product, RAPAEL Smart Glove, brings gamification into rehab exercise for…

DearMissJ, an eCommerce startup marketing accessories and handmade product by Korean designers into the North American market has secured an early development investment from Sazze Partners from Silicon Valley and Primer. Following their start in 2014, they were quickly brought to the spotlight through Instagram of famous celebrities and North American fashion blogs. The platform has experienced continues growth in revenue with monthly subscribers often doubling. Kristy Kim from DearMissJ commented on…

Open Gallery, an art rental service startup has secured a US $1.7 m (KRW 2b) investment from LB Investment. Despite having been established only two years, the investment was able to proceed based on the great potential of the company to pioneer the art rental market in Korea. The combined experience and skills of the founding members has provided the company with a robust foundation: Park Yi Gyu responsible for art has…

Editor’s note:  Senior Director Corporate Development at Baedal Minjok There is no doubt that Korea is in a revolutionary moment. In my last post, “Korea Rising”, I illustrated the unique position Korea is currently in. Leaving it with only one option: Build. The Korean War (1950–1953) left the country in a state of utter disorder. The bustling metropolis we reside in today was but a dream when basic running water was a…

The recent announcement of Shin Dong Bin, the chairman of Lotte Group to dedicating US$85m (KRW 100b) towards accelerator funds was covered by major media outlets including Chosun, Joongang and Hankyung. Naturally, the articles offered positivity in covering the launch of ‘Lotte Accelerator’ which would commence in January next year and support youth startups with a total of US$85 million in funds. The articles also focused on Shin Dong Bin’s pledge of US$8.5m (KRW 10b) of…

  Lycl Inc, the operator of Korea’s leading beauty SNS Unpa has confirmed receiving an investment worth US $1.2m (KRW 1.4b) from Partners Investment. The company has been consecutively selected as a leading medium corporation by the Department of Future Creative Science R&D. This investment has allowed Lycl Inc to secure capital position totaling US$1.7m (KRW 2b) which will allow upgrades to domestic services, provide operational stability and create a foundation for…

October 26, Seoul, Korea – Smart rehabilitation solution startup, NEOFECT announced on Oct. 26th that they received the ISO 13485 certificate (Quality Management System for the design and manufacture of medical devices) and the CE mark. NEOFECT builds an international standard quality management system providing a consistent service by eliminating any problems of damage or deterioration in all processes regarding production, storage and delivery of medical devices through receiving the ISO 13485 certificate….

Instagram on Thursday introduced its newest app called Boomerang. The app lets you create short, shareable animations that play from beginning to end and then from end to beginning. A single press on the capture button takes a burst of 10 photos that are automatically stitched together in a 1-second video. Shoot in portrait or landscape. Share it on Instagram. Boomerang automatically saves it to your camera roll. Other apps released recently by Instagram include…

South Korea, 20 October 2015 – Between, the leading private app for couples, announced the release of a major app update today. The new version, Between’s third since it’s launch in November 2011, allows couples to make their private space more personal. This update helps continue VCNC’s vision of enriching real and offline-based relationships through an emotional communication service. While affection might spark romance, maintaining a committed relationship takes serious work from…

The conclusion of the ‘beGLOBAL San Francisco 2015’ event which was held in The Village in San Francisco, marked another successful year for the startup conference. This year the flagship event recorded over 200 attendees that represented 20 startup company representatives as well as 36 startup industry identities. This combination helped to create a networking opportunity like no other.  The focus of the first presentation session was brought on two influential identities: Gunso Kim, the former head of Innovation Planning for the City of Seoul; and Jay Nath, the current CIO for the city…

Global startup media beSUCCESS ‘beGLOBAL San Francisco 2015 (beGLOBAL 2015)’ was held successfully today in San Francisco, U.S. The Silicon Valley event of beSUCCESS, ‘beGLOBAL San Francisco’ was first introduced in order to provide solutions for difficulties faced by Korean startups seeking foreign investment. This year marks the event’s third anniversary in the city of San Francisco, where the concept of startups was born. This year ‘beGLOBAL SF 2015’ will feature the…

From humble beginning in 2012 as beLAUNCH, beGLOBAL has successfully concluded the seventh startup conference beGLOBAL in both Korea and U.S. To date, the event has been attended by 15,000 people from over 25 countries. To more than 4,000 startups, the event has become a global networking platform. beGLOBAL SF 2015 will be held in San Francisco on the 15th of October and will provide an opportunity for Korean domestic startups to network with…

K Venture Group, a specialist investment branch of Kakao has acquired a majority (51%) stake in top beauty solution company ‘Hasys’.  Hasys is the developer and service provider of client management solutions for salons, facial salons, and nail shops. Their beauty client management solutions ‘HairJjang’ and ‘Beauty Jjang’ as at September 2015 maintain more than 9,600 clients. This represents 69% of the market for beauty company client management solutions. On the topic…

On the 14th October, global online music distribution service provider Pison Contents announced a $1m (KRW 1.1b) investment for their music-spray distribution technology. The investment is a combined total from Silicon Valley venture capital Sazze Partners, a Korean primer investor, and startup business program (TIPS) which is state operated by the small business agency. Although Pison Contents is headquartered in Korea, their offices and research centres are operated in USA, France and China….

K Cube Ventures, which specializes in investments into mobile, internet and technology companies confirmed on the 13th of October an investment of US1.7m (KRW 2b) into Saltlab a first person shooting game developer. Saltlab was formed in 2007 by gathering  top talent with experiences in famous award winning Korean games ‘Aba’, ‘Metro Conflict’ and ‘Red Doc’. Most team members have more than 10 year experience in the genre of  first person shooting game, in either development…