[StartupRecipe] Healthcare Startups Attract Most Investment in February

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

#Weekly Funding Overview

[Mar. 4 ~ Mar. 8]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of the week is KRW 103.5 Billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Wiseai	AI Platform	10 billion	Series B	IBK-BNW, Q capital partners, SJ GB ESG fund
Chequer	Cloud security	-		Salesforce Venture, ZVC
ProEn Therapeutics	Bio	-		Kolmar
Dinoz	Kids care	-	Pre-Series A	Mashup Ventures, Thanks Ventures, Bon Angels Ventures Partners
Realdraw	AI Webtoon production	-	Pre-Series A	Spring Camp
Doinglab	AI Food	-	Series A Bridge	Insight Equity Partners
Securityplatform	Security solution	6 billion	Series B	Vine Ventures, Pearl Abyss Capital, Korea Investment
Alicorn	Space management	-		Designhouse
Point2 technology	Network cable	30 billion	Series B1	Bosch Ventures, Molex
DSAT	Materials	-	M&A	Cnghitech
Vivid health	Healthcare	-	Seed	Kakao Ventures
Trans farmer	farming platform	-	Seed	Sopoong Ventures
otom	Healthcare device	2 billion		Dongkoo Bio
Manwol	F&B Branding	-		Hisstory Venture Investment
Grade health chain	Heathcare	6 billion	Series B	Starset Investment, Quad Asset Management
Persona AI	Investment AI	-		Naver cloud
Korea Credit Service	Credit Bureau	5 billion		DGB Daegu Bank, IBK Industrial Bank, Korea Credit Data
Roun& Company	Gen AI	-	Seed	Mark & Company, Yoonmin foundation
Hutom	Healthcare	20.5 billion	Series C	Nice Investment Partners, Nonghyup Bank, Hyundai Investment Partners, Bokwang Investment, Honest Ventures, Envester, BYB Investment, Ajou IB Investment, SK Securities
Zenix	Logistics	20 billion	Pre IPO	AIM Investment, KB Securities, Kiwoom Capital
Nurihaus	K beauty creator community	2 billion	Series A	Regent Partners, Nature& Nature, PS Ventures
Obitus	Kids marketplace	-	Seed	Spring Camp
Readypost	Proptech	2 billion	Pre-Series A	KB Investment, ES Investor
Beeble	Web3	-		Animoca Brands

#Major Funding

• Point2Technology, a manufacturer of communication cables, attracted $23 million investment. Founded in 2013, the company has developed e-tube technology that is 80% lighter and 50% smaller than existing copper wires. It can also reduce power consumption and costs by 50% compared to optical cables.
• Logistics Automation Solution Provider Zenix Secured KRW 20 billion Pre-IPO Investment. The company is competitive in the automated guided vehicle (AGV) and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) sectors.

#Trend Analysis

Korean startups received KRW 312.7 billion in investment in February. While this is down from the previous month, it is still 50% higher than the previous year, marking a different trend compared to the decline seen at the beginning of last year. The drop in investment was due to fewer growth-stage investments compared to January. The number of deals was also slightly down from the previous month, totaling 90.

The biggest recipient was the digital learning platform Flexcil, which raised KRW 50 billion. This was followed by the used car selling platform PRND(Haydealer), which raised KRW 45 billion, and the Senior care service Caring, which raised KRW 40 billion, completing the top three.

In February, the healthcare sector saw the most investments. Five of the top 10 investments were in digital healthcare, including senior care, sleep tech, and medical devices. Investor interest in digital healthcare startups has been growing since last year and continued earlier this year.

Software startups, such as AI semiconductors and generative AI, were less active. Consumer tech also saw no large-scale investments, mostly seed investments. Instead, investors focused on areas that have seen occasional large investments, such as edtech, mobility, and robotics companies, as well as sustainability startups like cultured meat.

The overall numbers were all down, with total investment volume falling by nearly half from the previous quarter. There were no KRW 100 billion deals, and the number of KRW10 billion-plus companies was cut in half, but fortunately, the number of deals in the KRW 40-50 billion range remained consistent. Early-stage investments dominated, with Series B and above accounting for less than 10% of all investments.

Early investors were active as news of intensive investments from accelerators such as Antler Korea, which operates the flagship program, spread, and at the growth stage, KDB and IMM Investments invested. KDB has invested in four of the top five companies. Global investors include Altos Ventures, ZVC, and SBVA.

The beauty tech company APR, which became a unicorn last year, announced its successful KOSPI debut. Following a successful initial public offering, the company closed 27% higher on its first day of trading. While there were no notable acquisitions, InJob Korea acquired the recruitment solution Ninehire, strengthening its recruitment sector.

In February, female-founded companies raised KRW 2.25 billion in funding, mostly at the seed and pre-Series A stage. The sectors included fintech, healthcare, and fashion.