[StartupRecipe] K-Beauty Boom Sparks Growth in Startups

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Sep. 9~ Sep 13]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of the week is KRW 277 Billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
24.5 Corp	Career platform	-	Grant	TIPS
Pierrot Company	Refurbish platform	-	Grant	TIPS
Marine drone	Drone	-	Grant	TIPS
Syndromez	Fashion brand	2 billion	Series A	Michigan Venture Capital, BonAngels Venture Partners
Stellavision	Satellite imagery	3.7 billion	Pre Series A	Hana Ventures, Enlight Ventures, Low Partners, UTC Investment, Woori Venture Partners
Cubixel	3D Hologram AOL	17 billion		Quad Asset Management, IBK-BNW, KC
Rzomics	Bio	-	Pre IPO	Quad Ventures
Project Pluto	US Finance information	-	Pre-Series A Bridge	nboundlab
Vueron Technology	Lidar	22 billion	Series A	Shinhan Venture Investment, TS Investment, IBK Industrial Bank, E&Venture Partners, Quantum Ventures, Woori Financial Capital, JB Investment, Samho Green Investment
Trillion Labs	LLM	5.7 billion	Pre-Seed	Strong Ventures, Kakao Ventures, Bass Investment, The Ventures, Goodwater Capital
Xup	Golf course management solution	-	Grant	TIPS
VMIC	AGGviation asset management	-	Grant	TIPS
CHEXCAR	Used car platform	7 billion	Series B	Korea Development Bank
Shunytech	Smart Aquaculture	-	Grant	TIPS
Contilab	Construction Worker Safety	-	Grant	TIPS
ROBOne	Robotics solution	15 billion	M&A	Korea Zinc
Sensual moment	Audio drama	-		DNABLE
Neurotobe	Bio	-	M&A	HLB Group
Unico global	Outoor brand	26 billion	M&A	No brand
Space oddity	Music startup	5 billion	Series B	KC Ventures, RBW, Laguna Investments, Smart Study Ventures
Spoonlabs	Shorform platform	120 billion		Krafton
Medispan	Bio	-	Grant	TIPS
Studio galilei	Mobility platform	-	Grant	Post Tips
PGT	Chemical company	39.4 billion	Series D	Korea Development Bank, Ajou IB Investment, HB Investment
Exflyer	Digital Ad ssse	-	Seed	Cnttech
Second ocean	Seaweed cultivation	-	Grant	TIPS
Wonderslab	AI Assistant	-	Seed	JeJu CCEI
JINSYSTEM	Location Based Service	-	Seed	JeJu CCEI
Rndcircle	R&D Partner matching	-	Seed	Blue Point Partners, The ventures
Repeel	CO2 capture tech	-	Grant	TIPS
Boostree partners	Skin care solution	-	Grant	TIPS
Hits	Bio	-	Grant	Scaleup TIPS
Imagoworks	Digital dental solution	-		CI Medical
Seengrip	Electric gripper	-	Seed	JNP Global
Puzzledata	Process mining	-	Grant	Scaleup TIPS
Open research	AI Search service	10 billion	Seed	LB Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Bon Angels Venture Partners
DTS	Data service	-		IBK Capital, Intops Investments
wello	AI Gov tech	-	Series A	Korea Investment Partners, KODIT, We Ventures, Shinhan Venture Investment, Fast Ventures
Fescaro	Mobility software	-	Grant	TIPS
Korea Mobility	Smart mobility	-	Grant	TIPS
Skinseoul lab	beauty ecommerce	-	Seed	Series Ventuers
Firstlab	Ultrasonic Technology	3.1 billion	Pre-SeriesA Bridge	Enlight Ventures, D-Camp, IBK Industrial Bank, Korea Development Bank, Inox
Haeun company	AI consulting	100 million	Seed	Clust ventures

#Major Funding

• Spoon Labs, a content platform known for its audio streaming service ‘Spoon’ and short-form drama platform ‘V-Glue,’ has raised 120 billion KRW in new funding. The investment highlights the growing potential of the short-form drama market and the company’s focus on securing new intellectual property (IP).
• Vueron Technology, a LiDAR startup specializing in autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), closed a 22 billion KRW funding round, bringing its total investment to 33 billion KRW. Vueron has its sights set on a KOSDAQ listing by 2026 as it continues to advance its LiDAR-based technologies.
• Open Research, an AI-powered search startup founded by the former CEO of Kakao Brain, secured 10 billion KRW in seed funding. The company aims to innovate with a specialized, efficient AI-driven search service tailored to professional users.

#Trend Analysis

K-Beauty Boom Sparks Growth in Startups

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ report, Trends of Exports by South Korean SMEs in the First Quarter of 2024, cosmetics have claimed the top spot among export items from Korea. The export value reached $3.3 billion, marking a 17% year-on-year growth and setting a new record. This growth is driving changes in investment patterns within the industry.

While interest previously focused on beauty tech combining technology with cosmetics, attention has recently shifted towards companies that directly manufacture, sell, and distribute cosmetic products. These companies are accelerating their expansion into the global market, leveraging their international competitiveness.

Investment areas are diversifying beyond manufacturing to include global distribution channels, K-beauty marketing, branding communities, and brand builders. The beauty sector is leading the rise in investment attraction within the consumer tech field, which has seen overall declines. In the beauty tech arena, skin analysis services incorporating AI, VR, and biotechnology, personalized cosmetics recommendations, and home beauty devices are gaining attention. Following the successful IPO of APR this year, significant investments are being made in beauty device businesses such as Medi Therapy.

As the K-beauty industry enters its second golden age, the government is lending its support. Plans have been announced to create a dedicated fund for K-beauty market growth and to nurture innovative beauty tech startups in collaboration with companies like L’Oreal. Investors are also responding swiftly to market trends by establishing beauty-specific funds. Signite Partners has created a 56 billion won fashion and beauty fund, investing in companies like Grace. LG Household & Health Care has committed 5 billion won to a beauty-exclusive fund, while cosmetics ODM companies like Cosmax and Kolmar Korea are also establishing global K-beauty specialized funds.

The popularity of beauty companies is also evident in the M&A market. Recent notable acquisitions include Goodai Global’s 150 billion won purchase of TirTir and Shinsegae International’s 71.3 billion won acquisition of Amuse. There’s an active strategy of acquiring small brands to secure competitiveness in the global market or expand business operations. Some companies are also eyeing public listings. Craver Corporation, known for products like Skin1004, and Bmonument, which operates the Dalba brand, are preparing for IPOs. Birdview, the operator of the beauty platform Hwahae, has successfully turned a profit after withdrawing its previous listing attempt, raising expectations for a future IPO.

The domestic beauty industry is expected to grow further with active government support measures, sustained popularity of K-beauty, and the development of new export markets. As opportunities for expansion into emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa increase, growth is anticipated across the entire related industry spectrum.