[StartupRecipe] Exceeding 1 trillion won in monthly funding for Four consecutive months

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Sep. 06~ Sep. 10]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW  173.15 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Channel Corperation	B2B Messenger	28 billion	Series C	Atinum Investment, KB Investment, Pavilion Capital, IMM Investment, Bon Angels Partners, Guardian Fund, Laguna Investment
Luxury&ALL	Fashion	750 million	Pre-Series A	Next Challenge, The Invention lab, BA Partners
Breezytail	Pettech	4.2 billion	Series A	Premier Partners, Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, Enlight Ventures, Fast Ventures
NBIOS	Bio/Healthcare	500 million	GRANT	TIPS
JCF technology	Manufacture	-	GRANT	TIPS
Factory Unicorn	Fashion	-	Pre-Series A	Strong Ventures
Moonriver	Ecommerce	1 billion		DSC Investment
Lifegoeson	Mobile Laundary	50 billion	Series C	Korea Develpoment Bank, Altos Ventures, DS Asset Management, Samsung Ventures, Softbank Ventures
Goifuneral	Funeral Service	400 million	Seed	Kakao Ventures
H2O Hospitality	Hospitality	30 billion	Series C	Kakao Investment, Korea Development Bank, Gorilla PE, NICE Investment Partners, Kejora, Intervestor
AENTS	Building management	-	Seed	Mashup Angels
Doson	Fullfillment	21.6 billion		IMM Investment, Korea Development Bank, DotConnect, S&S Investment, Mega Invesment, Wonik Investment Partners, We Ventures, Future Play, Behigh Investment, Shinhan Alternative Investment Management
Specter	HR	900 million	Pre-Series A	Strong Ventures, Fast Ventures
Ronfic	Robotics	-	GRANT	tips
Travel Wallet	Fintech	15.8 billion	Series B	Korea Develpoment Bank, Hanwha Investment & Securities, Kiwoom Investment, SK Securities, SU&Partners, Seoul Techno Holdings
2MEU	Education	-	Pre-Series A	We Ventures, Spring Camp, IBK Capital
CTNS	Battery	-	Seed	CNTTECH
Imagibble	Digital Contents	-	Seed	CNTTECH
100percent	battery sharing	3.5 billion	Series A	Shinhan Investment
Horizon Technologies	Fintech	-	Seed	Alchemista Partners
Stipop	emoticon	-	Seed	Ycombinator
PRATER	Medical device	-	Seed	Altoran Ventures
Coreline Soft	Bio/Healthcare	12 billion	Series C	Korea Investment Private Equity, Hanwha Asset Management, Aju IB, NH, Timefolio Asset Managment
Superblock	Blockchain	1 billion	Seed	Spring Camp, NaverZ
4by4	Media/Content	3 billion		Lotte Homeshopping
Millie	Audiobook	-	M&A	KT

Major Funding

• The contact-less mobile laundry service LaundryGo’s operator LifeGoesOn, raised 50 billion won. The Korea Development Bank invested 30 billion won in this round. Since its launch in March 2019, it has grown by more than 15% per month.
• H2O Hostility, which provides smart hotel solutions, raised 30 billion won in investment. The company is growing steeply as demand for contact-free and unmanned in the hotel industry increases. It is expected that hotel fixed costs will be reduced by 50% and improve sales by 20% through H2O Hospitality. With this investment, the startup will enter Southeast Asia in full swing.
• Channel Corporation, an all-in-one Biz messenger Channel’s operator, has raised an investment of 28 billion won. The company grew due to increased demand for contact-less chatbot customer communications and marketing platforms amid the expansion of the online commerce market. It has entered 22 countries around the world and secured 15% of total sales from overseas. This investment aims to upgrade services and establish itself as a popular tool.
• Duson Company, a service-type fulfillment company, raised 21.6 billion won in investment. The company led the digitalization of the logistics industry targeting small and medium-sized companies, and recorded transactions of more than 10 billion won per month through the Hare Center as of June. The startup was chosen as FedEx’s only fulfillment company. As an ESG company, 30% of its executives and employees are employed from vulnerable groups.

#Trend Analysis

Exceeding 1 trillion won in monthly funding for Four consecutive months

The total investment in August was 1.3 trillion won, and the number of investments closed was 120. The total amount decreased by more than 1 trillion won compared to last month, but the investment of more than 1 trillion won per month has continued for the fourth consecutive month since May. In July, Yanolja’s considerable investment of 2 trillion won exceeded 2 trillion won per month for the first time.

Two other unicorns have been born. It is a used goods trading platform Daangn Market and game company NPixel. Daangn Market, which attracted the most significant investment in August, closed its investment deal in Series D worth 178.9 billion won and was recognized for its corporate value of 3 trillion won. Founded in 2015, Daangn Market has become a unicorn, setting a record of more than 70 times higher than the corporate value recognized two years ago. In addition, NPixel, a game company that launched MMORPG Grand Saga in January this year, raised 100 billion won in investment and became a unicorn in the shortest period in the game industry.

Founded in 2017, it became a unicorn for the first time in four years and became the first gaming startup to become a unicorn.

The role of large companies in the Korean startup ecosystem is gradually growing. The number of strategic investments in startups is increasing. Among them, investments are being made to preoccupy the market while seeking cooperative synergy in mobility, fintech, and manufacturing industries, which are expected to undergo rapid digital transformation. 

The value of startups is also rising rapidly. This phenomenon is caused by growing competition among venture capitalists to invest in companies with high growth potential preemptively. In line with this market atmosphere, the scale of investment by stages has also grown. The number of cases of securing more than 10 billion won in the Series A round investment increased, and 26 companies raised more than 10 billion in August.

In the M&A market, the number of cases in which large companies take over startups every month increases. Delivery Hero Korea (DK), a delivery app Yogiyo operator, was sold to GS Retail and private equity funds for 800 billion won. Delivery Hero sold DK following the FTC’s guidelines to sell its subsidiary DK due to market monopoly issues in acquiring Woowa Brothers. In the process, the corporate value, which reached 2 trillion won, fell to 800 billion won. In addition, Newsystock, an investment algorithm brokerage platform, has been incorporated into a subsidiary of DGB Financial Group for the first time as a fintech startup. This is the first case in which a financial group acquired a fintech startup.

Startups established by women are expanding their diversity in terms of fields. In August, six companies attracted 19.8 billion won in areas where fewer female CEOs were distributed, including bio, smart factories, and blockchain. The company that attracted the most investment is S-Alpha Therapeutics, which develops digital treatments that attracted 10 billion won.