[StartupRecipe] Fintech Industry Slump: Rising Fintech Investment Sectors to Watch

Access to the latest Korean startup news and startup database for free

#Weekly Funding Overview

[Oct.30 ~ Nov.3]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 65.93 Billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
BMSMILE	Pettech	28 billion		SK Networks
CIT	Noise Reduction	1.1 billion	Seed	Smart Study Ventures, Mirae Holdings, PNU Techholdings, KODIT
Mass-adoption	NFT	-	Pre-Series A	JB Investment, MNX Commerce Korea, CNTTech
KALMAN	Robotics	450 million	Seed	The invention lab
Dispector	Robotics	480 million	Seed	The invention lab
Tesollo	Robotics	-	Seed	The invention lab
NDmarket	Retail platform	2 billion	Pre-Series A	D.camp, IBK, Inha University, Korea social Investment
Colosseum	Logistics	-	Series A	Nextran, Woori Bank, KODIT, Astone Ventures, CTK
Revation	Eco friendly R&D Solution	-	Grant	TIPS
Muhayu	AI	15 billion	Pre IPO	DSC Investment, Devsisters Ventures, Stick Ventures
Medipal	Healthcare	5 billion	Series A	Bass Investment, Insight Equity Partners, KT Partners
Zimcarry	Smart Storage	-	Series A	K-Bridge Investment, KODIT, ES Investor
Ordinary Magic	Kids Platform	-	Grant	TIPS
Cointravit	Fintech	-	Grant	TIPS
Freegrow	Indoor Locatio Service	-	Grant	TIPS
Kavilab	Healthcare	-	Grant	TIPS
AETECH	Robotics	8.6 billion	Series A	Blue Corner, Vision Creator, GS Ventures, Hana Securities, KB Securities, Muir Woods Partners, LK Technology Investment, Welcome Capital, Oracle Venture Investment
Soundplatform	AI Matering solution	-	Series A	IBK Industrial Bank, KB Investment, BNK Venture Investment
Mckingly Rice	HR	5 billion	Seed	Murex Partners, DS&Partners, Daekyo Investment, Wantedlab
Wave & Vive	Mealkit	-	Seed	Series Ventuers
ITDA	Semiconductor	-	Grant	Deeptech TIPS
Wonderslab	HR	1.5 billion	Seed	Primaer, Korea Social Investment
Nils	Marine Bio	-	Seed	BUSAN UNITED HOLDINGS

#Major Funding

• BMSMILE, a pet care startup, has attracted strategic investment of 2.8 billion KRW from SK Networks. They operate the pet brand PATHROOM and are engaged in various pet care businesses. They plan to enhance their business competitiveness through collaboration with SK Networks.
• Muhayu, the operator of the AI plagiarism detection solution ‘copykiller’, has raised 15 billion KRW in pre-IPO investment. Using AI, they calculate the probability of paper plagiarism based on a database of 10 billion pieces of data including academic papers and internet posts. Nine domestic 4-year universities are currently using their service. They plan to pursue a KOSDAQ listing in 2025.
• Aetech has secured an investment of 860 million KRW. They have developed an AI waste resource sorting robot solution and plan to expand the unmannedization of waste facilities. They will use the investment to expand their business, including the construction of a robot resource recycling center in Western countries.
• Medipal has attracted an investment of 500 million KRW. They provide the aftercare SaaS solution ‘AfterDoc’ to support digital transformation in hospitals and serve returning patients. They will focus on service enhancement through the investment.
• Global recruitment management specialist company McKinley Rice has raised an investment of 500 million KRW. Starting in the Indian market, they have 300,000 global IT talents from 57 countries utilizing their services.

#Trend Analysis

Fintech Industry Slump: Rising Fintech Investment Sectors to Watch

The fintech industry has grown rapidly over the past few years as startups have emerged to bring new innovations to the financial market. Services that improve inconveniences in traditional finance have attracted large amounts of funding and unicorns have emerged.

In Korea, the fintech sector has been ranked fourth in terms of investment attraction since 2021, but the industry has fallen off the radar of investors this year. The global market has become more depressed as fintech startups that have succeeded in going public have performed poorly, and the number of investments and fundraising has continued to decline since 2021. According to StartupRecipe data, 1.7 trillion won was invested in fintech as of October. This is down about 1% from last year, so the drop is not significant. However, the fact that one or two startups accounted for more than 60 percent of the total funding and that the number of new services is declining is not unrelated to the market slowdown.

The largest amount of funding went to Toss Bank, a subsidiary of unicorn Viva Republica. Toshiba has been the top fundraiser in the fintech space every year since 2020. By sector, wealth management and lending attracted the most funding, while payments, remittances, and insurance also saw investment. All of which offer innovative solutions that prioritize user convenience.

This year, alternative investments have garnered the most attention. Services that offer piecemeal investments in music, real estate, and art have been popular among MZers for several years. This year, piecemeal investments have become institutionalized, attracting not only investment firms but also large companies, and startups in this field have been attracting funding from early on.

On the other hand, P2P finance and robo-advisors, which have attracted a lot of investment for a while, have also failed to gain as much attention as before. In Korea, most fintech services are aimed at consumers, but B2B services are also increasing. Examples include financial API platforms and payment management integration solutions. It is expected that more companies will shift from the consumer market to B2B services as competition intensifies.

Rising interest rates and other circumstances have made it more difficult for fintech startups to raise funds, but as in other industries, fintech services built on solid fundamentals are attracting investment even in difficult times. While the pre-pandemic investment frenzy has faded, there are still opportunities for growth in fintech services in emerging markets, which will rebound as markets recover.