Altos Ventures, headquartered in Silicon Valley, has invested $2 million USD in Hyperconnect, the developer of live time video communication technology and the service host for the video messenger ‘Azar.’ Hyperconnect has developed a very distinct client/server technology stack for WebRTC based real-time video/voice communication. It is very secure and reliable for various settings in 200 countries with very high quality video chat. The technology is built on P2P so the management…

Sources in the Goverment have confirmed that a total of around $1 billion was invested in startups in the first nine months of the year. This represents a 9.5% increase from a year earlier. The number of startups that received investment also increased to 619 from 579 over the same period. The increase in funding has been attributed to a rise in activity by institutional investors and private venture funds, as well as government investment…

  Samsung Ties Up With SK To Develop 5G   South Korea’s top mobile carrier, SK Telecom, said they are partnering with Samsung to develop the 5G industry, seeking early advancement in one of the highly watched mobile sectors. “We signed an MOU to conduct joint research in network technologies and new services related to the 5G,” SK Telecom said. The company currently dominates half of the local mobile market. World First LTE Tech…

Sparklabs fourth batch recently kicked off and I had the chance to speak with one of their most promising startups, OnnuriDMC. OnnuriDMC operates a mobile advertising platform, CrossTarget, that the founders believe has solved a major issue for mobile advertisers; being able to track users in the mobile app environment in real time. Background In the PC environment advertisers are able to easily track user behavior through cookies, but this is generally…

One does not normally associate tech M&As with political strife. But the left leaning Daum and right leaning Kakao are facing exactly these issues on the day they announce their successful merger. Daum is Korea’s second largest internet portal that was acquired earlier this summer by Korea’s largest social messeging applilcation, Kakao. Daum is generally acknowledged to be skewed to the left on the political spectrum, whereas Kakao was previously caught up in controversy…

This article was co-authored by Alan McGlade (Digital Entertainment Ventures) and Nathan Millard (beSUCCESS) and appeared on Forbes on July 18 2014. As little as five years ago Korea’s startup scene was undistinguished, but now the nation has taken an important step towards establishing itself as a key technology hub in the Asia Pacific region and an essential partner for global investors and tech businesses. Two young Korean startups have gained the…

There are a number of good resources for finding information on Korean Technology, business and tech start- ups. Some are a bit more difficult to find, so here is a list of the most helpful news outlets and startup resources for Korea. beSUCCESS: If your reading this article than you no doubt know who beSUCCESS is and what we do. But just in case: beSUCCESS is a South Korean media platform about startups,…

The Korean government has just announced the long-awaited news that the first “Start-up Visa” in Korea has been issued to a Korean-American entrepreneur, Jason Lee CEO of J.J. Lee Company.  It is unknown why he was not able to apply for an F-4 visa, which is available for non-Koreans with Korean heritage, but it marks another stride forward in Korea’s massive push towards establishing its position as one of the world’s most vibrant…

Korean educational startup Smatoos has just launched an iOS app called Formula for English Conversation (our translation) for people in Japan and Korea, which focuses on improving English speaking skills, as reported in TechInAsia. It’s free, and the Android version will be released within the first quarter of this year. Like other English education apps out there, this app was developed to remove the common frustration of language learners who cannot come…

The below is the review segment for Korea. For the full article please click here to be redirected. Samsung 4Q13 profits to fall: Samsung Electronics has estimated its operating profits for the fourth quarter of 2013 at about KRW8.3 trillion(US$7.8 billion), down 18% from the prior quarter. Consolidated sales for the 4Q are set to stay flat on quarterat KRW59 trillion, Samsung disclosed. The forecast operating profits represent a 6.1% decrease compared tothe KRW8.84 trillion…

It’s been a while since we have reported any news from Kakao Talk, which developed mobile messenger KakaoTalk in 2012. The company now plans to make forays into the news services market, having established itself as one of the ‘new platforms’, which have been billed as one of the hot trends to watch for 2014. Kakao is preparing to provide news service on a curation format that enables users to take a…

지난 한 주간 스타트업계에서 주목을 받았던 기사 (콘텐츠)를 간략히 요약했습니다.   케이큐브, 모바일게임 스타트업 ‘발컨’에 3.5억 투자하다. 그 배경은? 모바일 게임 스타트업에 연이어 투자를 하고 있는 케이큐브벤처스가 모바일 디펜스 게임을 개발중인 발컨에 3.5억원을 투자했다는 소식을 밝혔다. 이로써 케이큐브벤처스는 작년부터 투자해 온 핀콘, 넵튠, 드라이어드, 오올블루, 두바퀴소프트까지 포함해 6개의 모바일 게임 스타트업에 총 26억원을 투자하게 됐다.   아시아 뉴스 큐레이션 서비스 All Asia Tech 런칭 beSUCCESS 는 Gist 스타트업(조승민 대표/이길우 이사 등)과 All Asia Tech…

Samsung releases ‘Galaxy Round’, the first phone with a curved display   The new “Galaxy Round” phone from South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics will make its debut in the domestic market this week, the nation’s top mobile operator SK Telecom said Wednesday. The most prominent feature of the latest Galaxy series phone is its curved display. It also features a 5.7-inch screen, the same as the Galaxy Note 3, with a…

스타트업계는 하루하루가 기업의 생존과 관계된 만큼, 매우 급하게 모든 일이 진행되고 있습니다. 그만큼 주위를 둘러보거나 주변의 조언을 들을 시간조차 부족한 것이 현실입니다. 하지만 가끔은 주변에 어떤 일이 있는지 10분 정도 시야를 넓혀보는 것도 좋은 방법이라고 생각합니다. 바쁜 여러분을 위해 지난 한 주간 스타트업계에서 주목을 받았던 기사 (콘텐츠)를 간략히 요약했습니다. 도움이 되길 바랍니다.   케이큐브벤처스, 소셜 Q/A서비스 ‘위브랩’에 5억 원 투자(9/9) 기술기반 스타트업인 위브랩이 케이큐브벤처스로부터 투자를 유치하였다.  다음(Daum) 초창기부터 검색엔진 개발과 관리를 이끌어온…