[StartupRecipe] Startup Funding Slowed Down in February

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Mar.14 ~ Mar.18]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 289 billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
VA Corporation	Metaverse	100 billion	Series A	Paratusinvestment
Petner	Pettech	1.7 billion	Series A	Jcurveinvestment, Glonet Venture Partners, Digital Healthcare Partners
Fanding	Fan commerce	200 million	Series A	Korea Investment Partners, Bridge Investment, Hansae Yes24 Partners
Padobox	Foodtech	100 million	Pre-Series A	Big Basin Capital, Seoul Techno Holdings
Ninehire	HR Solution	-	Seed	Fast Ventures
Cluematic	Beauty	-	Seed	Korea Venture Investment
Bear Robotics	Robotics	100 billion		IMM Private Equity, Cleveland Avenue, KT, Smilegate Investment, DSC Investment
Kickthehuddle	Digital Healthcare	8 billion	Series B	Hanhwa Asset Management, Nau IB Capital
Ramper	WEB3	3.7 billion	Pre seed	Hashed, Terra, Poligon, Good Water capital, Samsung Next, Golden Ventures, R7 Capital, 500startup, Maple VC
Kiwi Studio	Kids platform	-	Seed	Sopoong Ventures
Blue Recipe	food	-	M&A	AID Korea
XbarX	Foodtech	-	Seed	Hite Jinro
Vegestar	Food	6.5 billion		Nonghyup Bank, Nau IB Capital, Mega Investment, Enlight Ventures, cjinvest, Hana Financial Investment
Mondrian AI	AI Platform	4.5 billion		T Investment, BNK Securities, Evergreen
Daimresearch	Logistics	2 billion	Pre-Series A	Naver D2SF, Company K Partners, Stonebridge Ventures, KITE Entrepreneurship Foundation
Beatsomeone	Music	1.5 billion	Pre-Series A	Merkba, Cornerstone Investment
Oscar Futura	Fashion	-	Pre-Series A	Time Works Investment, Future Play, Hansae Yes24 Partners
Holostanding	Prophtech	-		Lotte Ventures, S Cubic Angels
Pubscale Partners	ecommerce	-	Pre-Series A	MMSVentures
Baree Coporation	Mobility	-	Pre-Series A	Strong Ventures, BDC Labs, Lotte Ventures, HGI
Apollo Air	Drone	-		Alux
Metaspace	Metaverse	400 million		NaverZ
Nearthab	Drone	-		Company K Partners, SBI Investment Korea, NAU IB Capital, Breeze Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Smilegate Investment, Stic Ventures
Dongsim kids	Kids trip	-	M&A	My Realtrip
Fast forward	Fintech	8 billion	Pre-Series A	Korea Investment Partners, Hana Ventures, Stonebridge Ventures, Spring Camp
Pickleplus	media	900 million		Strong Ventures, Primer, Block Crafters, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund
Hulampro	HR Solution	-	Pre-Series A	Timefolio Asset Management, iSquare Ventures, Wisdomasset
Employeelabs	HR	-		Square Ventures
Turnbag	Secondhand Platform	-	Seed	Newflight
Muffle	metaverse	1.7 billion		NaverZ

Major Funding

• Metaverse platform VA Corporation has raised 100 billion won and turned into a unicorn. It has established a full value chain for metaverse content production, including the largest LED wall-based virtual studio in Asia, virtual production technology using visual special effects (VFX), and original content IP library.
• Bear Robotics, an autonomous mobile robot startup, has secured 100 billion won, the largest investment in the service robot industry. Since 2020, it has mass-produced serving robots, which have been used by restaurant brands both at home and abroad, such as Paris Croissant and VIPS. It plans to diversify its product line and expand the robots supply in the global market.
• Digital healthcare commerce Kick the Hurdle has received 8 billion won investment, with its corporate value of 120 billion won. It has achieved annual sales of 10 billion won through online consultation with pharmacists and selling Phytotics, a health supplement designed by pharmacists. It aims to become a total digital healthcare company, including non-face-to-face treatment, wellness, and digital treatment.
• Fast Forward, the operator of investment management app Domino, has raised 8 billion won investment. Its app lets you manage all of your investment assets, from stocks to coins. The company will enter the MyData market with the funds. 

#Trend Analysis

Startup Funding Slowed Down in February

Investments continued last year’s upward trend in January, but began to fall in February. There were 122 investments and the total amount invested was 1.16 trillion won. Five companies succeeded in raising 100 billion won worth of investment, the largest number ever. The investment of the month managed to exceed 1 trillion won, but the number of investments decreased by more than 40 cases compared to January.

Although the amount of investment decreased in February, it has more than doubled since February 2021, indicating that the investment market is still on the rise.

SemiFive, a semiconductor design house, and Megazone Cloud, a cloud platform, both raised the largest amount of funds, securing 130 billion won. When analyzing by sector, the software sector received the most funds, while bio/healthcare and consumer tech, which have always been at the top, gave way to media/content and mobility. Both fields ranked high thanks to the companies that raised more than 100 billion won. The number of investments in blockchain startups has steadily increased, its figure showing an upward trend.

It is notable that companies less than a year old are attracting large-scale follow-up investments. Early-stage businesses continue to pique the curiosity of investors. The funds raised by the top 10 companies accounted for 63% of the total amount. There were 28 companies that raised 10 billion won or more, accounting for 87% of the total, which was basically unchanged from January. However, an investment beyond Series B decreased significantly, with no investment case worth between 50 and 100 billion won.

When broken down by stage, seed investment accounted for more than 32% of the total, indicating that early-stage startup investment is increasing. The most active investors were also venture capital companies and accelerators focused on early startup investment.

In February, two companies officially got unicorn status: content platform Ridi and cloud platform Megazone Cloud. They were valued at more than 1 trillion won along with attracting investment, and they became the first unicorn in their industry. In the acquisition market, you can find many cases where startups took over large corporations or SMEs and used them as a stepping stone to innovative growth and vice versa. BusinessOn acquired HR solution Shiftee to expand its business into the HR area. Laundrygo, a mobile laundry service, acquired Cleannuri and entered the B2B market.

Nine female-owned companies have attracted 29.4 billion won in investment in February. Ad-Ops platform Adriel has secured the largest funds, raising 15 billion won.