[StartupRecipe] Manufacturing Startups Gain Attention from Investors

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[April. 15 ~ April. 19]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of the week is KRW 135.4 Billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
The Sleep Factory	Sleeptech	2 billion	Series A	SBVC
Hirediversity		1 billion	Seed	Stone Bridge Ventures, Infobank
Rovers Company	Agritech	500 million	Seed	Korea Investment Accelerator, Antler Korea, Byuckan,
Minish technology	Healthcare	4 billion		Robots and design
Biosovix	Bio	-		Dt&CRO
Overmaps	Furniture subscription	-		Impact Square
Sije	Fashion	2 billion	Pre-Series A	Odastone Investment, Angel investor
Soundable Health	Digital healthcare	-		Delightroom
EYESCREAM Studio	Animation	-	M&A	Takeone computer
Dalpha	B2B AI	12 billion	Pre-Series A	Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Intervest, DSC Investment, IMM Investment, Partners Investment, Primer Sazze Partners, Spring Camp
Mine.is		10 billion	Series A	Hashed, Altos Ventures, SBVA, Delivery Hero Ventures, Hana Ventures
DRIMAES	Mobility	3 billion		Unitekno
Team REmited	Martech	-	Seed	Goodthings
LILLEM	Battery	10 billion		L&S Venture Capital, SJ Investment Partners, Korea Investment Partners, Time Folio Asset Management, POSCO Technology Investment, Shinhan Venture Investment
ISKRA	Web3	-		Animoca Brands
Recl	Clothing	3.5 billion	Series A	Smile Investments, Sema Investments, Gentium Partners, Big Basin Capital
LogiBros	Edutech	-	Series A	Grand Ventures
B2en	Data solution	12 billion		Sangsang in plus bank
Molecular Innovations	Bio	200 million	Seed	Seoul Techno Holdings

#Major Funding

• Dalpha, an AI startup, has secured 12 billion won in pre-Series A funding in just one year after its establishment. The company has developed and provided customized AI solutions to various companies, including e-commerce, fashion & beauty, marketing, and content.
• Mine.is, the operator of recommerce service ‘Charan’, has secured 10 billion won in Series A funding. Charan is a secondhand clothing sales agency that handles the entire process from pick-up to cleaning, photography, product information posting, and delivery.

#Trend Analysis

Manufacturing Startups Gain Attention from Investors

As investor focus moves from B2C platforms to B2B solutions, investments in manufacturing companies, especially startups, are steadily rising. This rise is evident in the jump of manufacturing investment from KRW 100.3 billion in 2020 to KRW 329 billion in 2023, despite a weakened overall investment climate.

Even more significant is the surge in the percentage of total funding captured by manufacturing startups. From a mere 2% in 2020, this sector has grown to claim a substantial 5% share of the Korean startup investment market by 2023. This rise has propelled manufacturing to a top position in investment attraction, driven in part by the emergence of innovative startups, particularly those in robotics solutions.

In the first quarter of this year, manufacturing ranked second behind bio/healthcare in terms of funding. This was partly due to a large investment in Bear robotics, a Silicon Valley-based robotics startup. However, even excluding this single investment, manufacturing kept pace with other major sectors like software and consumer tech.

Robotics is the biggest contributor to this rise in manufacturing funding. The first quarter saw investments in related startups such as Bear robotics, Eniai, Ara, Ronpic, Werobotics. Additionally, many upcoming public offerings are from robotics companies. The growth of these startups is expected to continue as the government actively supports the robotics industry at the national level.

Government support for the space industry is attracting attention to space startups that develop launch vehicles, micro-satellites, etc. Furthermore, solutions that support the digital transformation of established industries, such as automotive parts, new semiconductor materials, and next-generation batteries, are also expected to continue attracting funding. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution unfolds, investment in manufacturing startups is poised to increase significantly.