[StartupRecipe] 3 Key Sectors Attract Investors Despite Consumer Tech Slowdown

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Sep. 2~ Sep 6]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of the week is KRW 61.45 Billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
BeauBrain Healthcare	Healthcare	4 billion	Series A	L&S Venture Capital, Aju IB Investment
Fassto	Fulfillment	19 billion	Series D	SK D&D, Shinhan Venture Investment, Hana Ventures, Yuanta Investment, Tigris Investment
Vinssen	Eco-friendly marine mobility	20 billion	Series C	Shinhan Venture Investment, Seoul Investment Partners, Ubiquitous Investment, IBK Industrial Bank, Kodit, Schmidt-DSC Investment, Kyobo Securities, GS Ventures, Korea Alternative Investment corp.
Susimdal	AI Math	-	Grant	TIPS
Caredoc	Senior care	-		Invesco
AIPLE	Blood sugar management	-	Grant	TIPS
Kroma	Blockchain	-	Series A	Asia Advisors Korea, Gate Ventures, ICC Venture, Planetarium, Presto, RFD Capital, Taisu Ventures, The Spartan Group, Waterdrip Capital
Dosigotgan	Food	2 billion	Series A	CJ Investment, Bilanx Investment
READYCURE	Healthcare	-	Grant	TIPS
Recsinnovation	Energy	-	Grant	TIPS
HayanMind	Edutech	-	Grant	Post Tips
Polyphenl factory	Haircare	2 billion	Series A	Hyosung Chemical
Infiniq	AI	15 billion	Pre IPO
Deepvisions	AI	400 million	Pre-Series A	Next Dream Angel Club, MYSC
Claythis	Gen AI	-		NaverD2SF
Yesplz	Fashion AI	-		NaverD2SF
Poscore	Magnetic powder	-	Grant	Deeptech TIPS
Barc	Footware	-	Grant	TIPS
Everindus	Lithium ion Battery	-	Grant	Deeptech TIPS
Nils	Marine bio	-	Grant	TIPS
Nuvent	Sales management	-	Grant	Post Tips
Nanosystemz	Lidar solution	-	Seed	Blue Point Partners
Mithril	Safety solution	-	Grant	TIPS
Bionsight	Bio	-	Grant	Scaleup TIPS
AVI	Industrial	-	Grant	Scaleup TIPS
SG GURU	Frequency Synthesizer	2.7 billion	Series A	Behigh Investment, Kiwoom Investment Asset Management, Aju IB Investment
twell	Pet tech	-	Seed	JNU Holdings
in10slab	Career	-	Grant	TIPS
Eatmapl	Foodtech	-		ottogi
Remo	AI Healthcare	-	Seed	CNTtech
Belinker	Manufacturing	-	Grant	TIPS
Liberty labs	ownership succession	-		Primer sazze Partners, Fast Ventures
Spex	Space	-		JeJu CCEI, MYSC
Dailypay	Payment	-	Grant	TIPS
Paradigm Shift	mom's app	-	Grant	TIPS
Wellstek	Digital transformation	-	Grant	TIPS
nbnb	Proptech	-	Grant	TIPS
neweye	Tax	-	Grant	TIPS
Roboligent	Robotics	-	M&A	Gosung eng.
Webaresoft	API Gateway	-	Grant	TIPS
Bolao roasting	K-Coffee	350 million	Seed	innobuildlab
KDT Diamond	Lab grown diamond	-	Series A Bridge	Smart Hanwha KDB Gyeonggi Carbon Neutral ESG Fund
Yune	Fashion	-	Pre-Series A	Korea Investment Accelerator, MYSC

#Major Funding

• Vinssen, an eco-friendly marine mobility solutions provider, has secured a 20 billion KRW investment. The company focuses on developing and producing fuel cell systems and eco-friendly ship propulsion systems. With the investment, Vinssen plans to expand related facilities and invest in R&D to advance its hydrogen fuel cell technology for ships.
• Fassto has raised 19 billion KRW, bringing its total accumulated investment to 130 billion KRW. As an AI-driven logistics platform, Fassto provides fulfillment services optimized for online stores by systematizing the entire logistics process based on its self-developed Fulfillment Management System (FMS) and automated equipment.
• Infinic secured a 15 billion KRW investment. Specializing in software testing and applying AI technology in the automotive industry, Infinic recently collaborated with Hyundai Motor to supply AI training data necessary for autonomous vehicle development. The company is aiming for an IPO by the end of the year.

#Trend Analysis

3 Key Sectors Attract Investors Despite Consumer Tech Slowdown

Despite the recent downturn in the consumer tech investment market, certain sectors continue to see active investment activity. Among these, startups in the beauty, fashion, and food tech sectors are attracting ongoing investor interest. This is primarily attributed to the global market expansion potential these companies possess.

An analysis of 20 companies in the consumer tech sector that have received Series B or higher growth stage investments or undergone mergers and acquisitions (M&A) reveals that these companies are concentrated in the beauty, fashion, and food tech sectors. A common trait among these companies is that they have gained recognition for their global market expansion potential based on their proven performance in the domestic market. This has enabled them to secure large-scale investments or strategic M&As, establishing a foundation for global expansion through synergies with medium and large enterprises.

A notable trend is the increasing number of large corporations acquiring beauty startups. Despite the overall sluggish M&A market, substantial investments in cosmetic brands continue, which can be interpreted as a strategic approach leveraging the global recognition of K-beauty. Notable examples include the vegan color cosmetics brand Amuse, acquired by Shinsegae International for 71.5 billion won, and Laka Cosmetics, acquired by Goodai Global. These M&As can be seen as part of a strategy for large corporations to expand their overseas presence while facilitating the global market entry of smaller brands through their global networks.

Another example demonstrating the global expansion potential of K-beauty is the 12.5 billion won investment in Velymonkeys, a K-beauty platform targeting the Indian market.

In the food tech sector, investments are focusing on brands with global growth potential. Sweetbio, a Greek yogurt brand operator, has secured investment from Lotte and is preparing to enter the Japanese market. YOAJUNG, a yogurt ice cream brand, was acquired by Samhwa Food for 40 billion won.

These investment trends reflect changing trends in the food service industry, particularly among the MZ generation, and show that innovative, rapidly growing F&B brands are attracting investor attention.

The fashion sector has seen a slight decrease in investment due to the recent decline in popularity of B2C fashion platforms. However, the successful fundraising of secondhand trading platform BGJT and luxury platform Trenbe, along with large-scale M&As such as the 75 billion won acquisition of golf wear brand Amazingcre and the 15.8 billion won acquisition of kids clothing brand Rototobebe, indicate that growth potential in the fashion sector remains valid.

The travel and accommodation sector has also seen notable investments following the recovery of travel demand post-endemic. Travel platform Myrealtrip secured a large-scale investment of 75.6 billion won, while the acquisition of luxury accommodation service provider Stayfolio also garnered industry attention.