[StartupRecipe] 3-Year Data Shows South Korea’s Series A Market in Recovery

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[May. 19~ May. 23]

#FUNDING

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
Greybox	CRM Solutions	-	Pre-Series A	Schmidt, Mashup Ventures
Eleven O'Clock	Space Operation Automation Platform	2.5 billion	Pre Series A	SJ Investment Partners
MCCAAi	AI Video Intelligence	-	Series A
Studio Yamyam	Advertising Agency Services	-	Seed Bridge	Korea University Technology Holdings
People&Technology	AI/DX Solutions	7 billion	Series C	KB-Soliders Healthcare Investment Fund, Kingo Secondary Investment Fund No. 1, Kiwoom Securities, Meritz Securities
Nuvinda	Electric Motors	100 million		Samik Matz Ventures
IBEX Medical Systems	Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Equipment	14 billion	Series C	E&Investment, Bithumb Investment, Sema Investment, Roy Investment Partners, IBK Industrial Bank, Nice Investment Partners
GeneMedicine	Anticancer Virus Therapeutics	-	Series C	Korea BNC
Baree Corporation	Motorcycle Finance & Commerce Platform	10.3 billion	Series B	SV Investment, Smilegate Investment, Hyundai Technology Investment, Strong Ventures
Curaum	Digital Healthcare	20 billion	Series C	Intervest, Envestor, Hyundai Technology Investment, Daily Partners, Hana S&N Investment, Heungkuk Securities
Team Upgrade	College Prep Tutoring Platform	-	Series A	Coolidge Corner Investment
HydroXpand	Water electrolysis	-	Pre Series A	Korea Investment Accelerator, Company K Partners, IBK Capital

#TREND ANALYSIS

3-Year Data Shows South Korea’s Series A Market in Recovery

South Korea’s Series A investment market is entering a gradual recovery phase after experiencing a sharp contraction, according to a comprehensive analysis by Startup Recipe covering quarterly Series A funding trends from 2022 through May 25, 2025.

Series A investments represent a critical stage where startups begin pursuing substantial growth, serving as an important indicator for assessing corporate growth potential. The analysis examined key metrics including total investment amounts, deal counts, averages, and median values to track market trends.

The Series A investment landscape peaked in the first half of 2022 before entering an adjustment period that affected both investment amounts and deal frequency. The market experienced particularly severe sentiment contraction in 2023, with quarterly variations becoming pronounced due to large-scale deals. Throughout 2024, both total investment amounts and deal counts showed gradual recovery compared to 2023 levels, indicating market stabilization.

While average investment amounts continued to fluctuate significantly due to mega-deals, median values demonstrated a stabilizing trend. In the first quarter of 2025, Series A deal counts rebounded by more than 60 percent compared to the previous quarter, though the growth in investment scale, including average values, remained modest.

Similar to global trends, South Korea’s startup investment market showed distinct decline in both deal counts and amounts starting in 2023, with Series A investments following the same pattern. Investment amounts averaged approximately 500 billion won per quarter in 2022 but dropped to less than half that level in 2023. The figure rose slightly to the late 200 billion won range in 2024, with projections suggesting first-half 2025 inflows could reach the 200 billion won level if current trends continue.

Deal counts averaged 62 transactions per quarter in 2022 but declined by approximately 40 percent to 38 deals in 2023. The number recovered to an average of 40-plus deals in 2024, with the first quarter of 2025 recording 50 transactions, demonstrating a clear rebound.

Investment amounts reveal persistent differences between average and median values. While averages fluctuate significantly when large investments are included, median values, which more accurately reflect market sentiment, maintain relatively stable trends.

For instance, in the third quarter of 2023, Story Protocol’s $54 million(71.2 billion won) investment raised the average investment amount to 10.66 billion won, while the median remained at 5.5 billion won. This phenomenon indicates that many startups continue securing funding under conservative conditions.

Even during periods of severely contracted investment sentiment like 2023, the median consistently maintained around 5 billion won, suggesting that market foundations remained intact and funding continued flowing to startups that passed certain validation thresholds. While fluctuations in average values due to large investments persist, median values appear to be gradually stabilizing.

Large-scale investments at the Series A stage remain rare. While 2022 saw investments reaching 100 billion won, 2023’s maximum was in the 70 billion won range, with 2024 showing only modest improvement to the 80 billion won level. The first quarter of 2025 saw a sharp drop to the 30 billion won range.

This trend indicates that despite overall investment contraction, funds are concentrating in specific sectors. Although Series A total investments showed some recovery in 2024, companies actually benefiting from investments remain limited. The clear trend toward reduced per-company investment amounts suggests polarization will likely continue.

The Series A investment market appears to have transitioned from the overheated phase of 2022 through the cooling period of 2023 into a gradual recovery stage beginning in 2024. The government recently announced that both venture investments and venture fund formation recorded double-digit growth rates in the first quarter of this year, indicating ecosystem recovery.

While it remains early to evaluate the full year with the first half not yet complete, considering the upward trend in average investment amounts, the market appears to be emerging from its harsh winter and transitioning toward a structure centered on selective investments. Consequently, investment polarization is expected to continue.

#MORE NEWS

• S. Korea’s Venture Investment Shows Strong Recovery in Q1 2025
• Korean Virtual Asset Market Expands Sharply in H2 2024
• Motorcycle Platform Baree Raises KRW 10.3 Billion in Series B