South Korea's 'Startup for All' Hacked, 5,000 Applicants Exposed
South Korea’s SME Ministry Holds Briefing on ‘Startup for All’ Data Breach South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups held an official briefing on Monday to address a personal data breach involving its flagship startup platform ‘Startup for All,’ outlining...
10 Korean Brands Take K-Beauty Glow Week to Rome in Push for European Market
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) held K-Beauty GLOW WEEK in Rome on June 12-13 in the Italian capital, an event designed to support the European market entry of outstanding Korean consumer goods brands. The Rome event is the latest...
NextRise 2026 Draws Global AI Giants Including OpenAI and Palantir
Asia’s premier startup fair, NextRise 2026, Seoul, officially kicked off at COEX in Gangnam on 18th drawing over 1,100 startups and 270 corporate and investor partners from 30 countries for a two-day showcase of global innovation. Now in its 8th...
KOSDAQ Overhaul Draws Fire
Three of South Korea’s leading venture and startup associations jointly called on financial regulators to reconsider the proposed KOSDAQ restructuring, warning that the current reform plan fails to account for the unique nature of innovation-driven companies. The Korea Venture Business...
South Korea's 'Startup for All' Program Kicks Off With 5,000 Selected From 63,000 Applicants
South Korea Launches Mass Entrepreneurship Program as 5,000 Selected From 63,000 Applicants South Korea’s largest government-backed startup initiative has officially kicked off, with 5,000 participants chosen from a pool of 63,000 applicants to begin a structured entrepreneurship program backed by...
Korean Space Launch Startup Unastella Raises 33.5 Billion Won in Series B Round
Unastella, a South Korean space launch vehicle startup and the first private company in Korea to successfully launch a self-developed rocket, has closed a 33.5 billion won SeriesB funding round, bringing its total cumulative investment to 61.5 billion won. The...
LetinAR Raises KRW 27.8 Billion in Pre-IPO Round to Scale AI Glasses Optics
LetinAR, a South Korean startup specializing in optical modules for AI glasses, announced on May 19, 2026 that it has secured 27.8 billion won in a pre-IPO funding round. With this raise, the company’s total cumulative investment has surpassed 62.5...
Dunamu Raises KRW 612 Billion From Samsung Group
Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has secured 612.8 billion won ($443 million) in a strategic equity investment from three Samsung Group affiliates. Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, and Samsung Card jointly acquired a 4% stake in...
South Korea Opens SVC Seoul, the Largest Startup Hub in Korea, Near Hongik University
South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups officially opened Startup Venture Campus Seoul — known as SVC Seoul — on May 20, 2026, near Hongik University Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Modeled after Paris’ Station F, the world’s largest startup campus,...
APEC Startup Alliance Officially Launches in Korea
The APEC Startup Alliance (ASTAA) was officially launched on May 22 at the Startup Venture Campus Seoul (SVC Seoul), establishing a new framework for startup ecosystem cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region. Delegations from all 21 APEC member economies, alongside global...
Hana Bank Acquires 6.55% Stake in Dunamu, Reshaping Korea's Digital Finance Landscape
Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has secured a landmark strategic investment of approximately 1 trillion won ($730 million) from Hana Bank, a subsidiary of Hana Financial Group. Through the deal, Hana Bank acquires a 6.55%...
WIRobotics Closes KRW 95 Billion Series B to Accelerate Humanoid Robot Commercialization
WIRobotics, a South Korea-based robotics company, has closed a 95 billion won Series B funding round. This represents a nearly 8x increase from its Series A round of 13 billion won raised in March 2024. JB Investment led the round...
Venture and KOSDAQ Associations Urge Alteogen to Stay on KOSDAQ
The KOSDAQ Association, the Korea Venture Business Association, and the Korea Venture Capital Association (KVCA) have collectively sent an official letter to Alteogen requesting that the biotech firm reconsider its planned transfer to the KOSPI (Korea Stock Exchange main board)....
Korean Startup Investment Surges 407% in April 2026
South Korean startups attracted a total of KRW 185.1 billion in investment during April 2026 — a dramatic 407.6% jump compared to the same month last year (KRW 36 billion), according to the April 2026 Startup Recipe Investment Report. The...
Upstage Acquires Daum to Build Korea's First AI-Native Portal
Korean AI startup Upstage has finalized its acquisition of Daum, one of Korea’s oldest and most recognized web portals, completing the purchase of AXZ — the portal’s operating company and a former wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao. The deal, which...
Korea's Big Five Financial Groups Pledge 1 trillion to Fuel Startup Growth
Korea’s five major financial groups have committed 1 trillion won in combined investment and loan funding to support the country’s venture and startup ecosystem, joining a landmark government-led initiative. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of SMEs and...