[StartupRecipe] 2026 Seoul Beauty Week Highlights K-Beauty’s Global Momentum

#Weekly Funding Overview

[Aug.24 ~ Aug. 28]

#FUNDING

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
Ideas2Silicon	On-device AI semiconductor fabless	-	Grant	Global TIPS
J&P Medi	AI-based life science R&D platform	-	Grant	Global TIPS
DeepMaze AI	3D sensor fusion	-	Grant	TIPS
Dimenfeel	AI-based retinal imaging dementia screening	-	Grant	TIPS
GTGO	Foodtech-based F&B	-	Grant	Global TIPS
MuseM	Global artist IP	-	Grant	Global TIPS
MATERIAL SCIENCE	Organic material development for OLED	-		Scale-up TIPS
IKLab	Real-time video analysis/optimization solution	-	Grant	TIPS
Nova Air	AI aviation turbulence diagnosis	-	Grant	TIPS
Carbolution	Carbon capture material	-	Grant	TIPS
Searchdoc	Ultra-large industrial data AI	-	Grant	TIPS
Medisola	Personalized diet development	-	Grant	Scaleup TIPS
Dain Medical Group	Urology medical device	-	Grant	Scale-up TIPS
ATOMMER	Functional materials	-	Seed	LG Electronics, Bluepoint Partners
Liner	AI agent	50 billion	Series C	LB Investment, Atinum Investment, CJ Investment, KDB, Helios Private Equity, KB Securities, Daishin Securities, STIC Ventures
Beyless	Embedded system software	5.5 billion	Series B	BNK Venture Investment/Space Time Investment, The Hahm Partners, IBK Capital, Blue Corner Capital
SoomLabs	AI video agent	-	Pre-Seed	Founders Inc, Kakao Ventures, FuturePlay, Bass Investment
MachineFlow	Enterprise AI coding agent	-	Seed	LG Electronics, Bluepoint Partners
SoundDog	Music taste/listening data music tech	-	Seed	Primer
Remplir	Lithium iron phosphate battery cell manufacturing	-		Wireble
Intellectus	Middleware solution	4 billion	Pre-Series A	Albatross Investment, Time Investment
Vrink	Wellness nutritional drink platform	-		CNT Tech
Wrtn Technologies	AI service platform	100 billion	Series C	Coreline Ventures, Eugene Asset Management, Goodwater Capital, Antler Global, Woori Venture Partners, Sui Generis Partners, KDB, Capstone Partners
F4GE	Defense/manufacturing infrastructure	-		Naver D2SF, K-Net Investment Partners, Sazze Partners, D.CAMP, 500 Global
Solum Advanced Materials	Metal materials	7 billion	Series B	Sage One Partners
Pilleday	AI customized nutrition solution	-		CNT Tech
Rael	Organic sanitary pads	-	M&A	TowerBrook Capital Partners
Founders A	AI beauty lab solution	100 million	Seed	CC Ventures
Korea Digital Platform	Trading card game	-		Crit Ventures
jachimap	Studio apartment info platform	-	Seed	CNT Tech
Musee	Women's clothing brand	-		BLT Partners
Speed Floor	AI logistics robot integrated control technology	1 billion		Incheon Growth Fund No. 4
Wellmoa	Living health products	-		Ceragem
SST Lab	AI security search	3.5 billion	Series B

#TREND ANALYSIS

2026 Seoul Beauty Week Highlights K-Beauty’s Global Momentum

Seoul Beauty Week 2026, held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) from the 23rd to the 25th, brought together a record 152 companies and international visitors eager to discover Korean beauty brands. As a core program of Beautiful Life in Seoul (BLS), the event featured cosmetics, beauty tech, medical beauty and inner beauty products, with 127 companies participating in the cosmetics and beauty-tech categories.

The event reflected K-beauty’s growing global presence. Korea recorded USD 11.4 billion in cosmetics exports last year, becoming the world’s second-largest cosmetics exporter after overtaking the United States. Small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 72.5% of total cosmetics exports in 2025, up from 63.6% in 2023.

Foreign visitors said Instagram and TikTok were key channels for discovering K-beauty brands. Visitors from Brazil praised Korean cosmetics for their value, everyday usability and skincare options tailored to concerns such as sensitive skin and acne. Several noted that the event introduced them to brands beyond those commonly found at Olive Young, with some returning for a second day to buy more products.

A Brazilian visitor said she hoped Korean products would become more widely available in Latin America. Visitors also named brands including Anua, Abib and Biodance as products they had encountered through TikTok.

Interest extended beyond women. Male visitors from Malaysia said they followed skincare content on Instagram and came to explore products firsthand. While skincare received broadly positive feedback, some international visitors said K-beauty color cosmetics still need a wider range of shades for diverse skin tones.

The event hosted 115 global buyers, along with one-on-one business meetings and export consulting for Korean beauty companies. Last year’s Seoul Beauty Week generated KRW 17.7 billion in export contracts.

Its Business Meetup Pitching Competition attracted 72 applicants, with nine teams reaching the finals. The grand prize went to Cheongbang Korea, which operates the bee-derived portable beauty and wellness brand Binubo. The three-person company, led by a founder with 17 years of U.S. B2B retail experience, generated USD 200,000 in U.S. sales within about 10 months of launch.

Seoul Beauty Week also introduced the Seoul Beauty Forum under the theme K-Beauty 2.0. Led by a keynote from L’Oréal Korea Chief Digital Marketing Officer Joyce Ryu, the forum examined regulations and certification, AI and beauty technology, and global platform and distribution strategies.

Seoul Beauty Week showed that K-beauty’s international rise is being powered not only by exports, but also by social-media discovery, product experience, emerging brands and stronger connections between Korean companies and overseas buyers.