[StartupRecipe] Going Global: Tips from Launchpad Global Partners

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Oct. 11~ Oct. 15]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 229.7 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
TainAI	Fintech	2 billion	Pre-Series A	Klim Ventures, Soft Ventures, KB Investment,
Icaredr	Healthcare	-	Series A
Fount	Robo Advisor	40 billion	Series C	Hana Financial Investment, Nice Investment, Smilegate, KT Investment, Shinhan Capital, Korea Development Bank
WIRobotics	Robotics	-	Seed	Futureplay
Market Stadium	Prophtech	1 billion	Seed	KaKao Ventures, Shinhan Capital, Primer Sazze
Getcha	Car sale platform	8 billion	Series A	Company K Partners, SK Energy, Korea Investment Partners, TBT, Central
Pixelic	Collaboration tool	-	GRANT	Tips
Drnow	Digital Healthcare	10 billion	Series A	Soft Bank Ventures, Seahan Venture Capital, Hashed, Crit Ventures
Sketchsoft	3D Sketch	3.8 billion	Series A	Softbank Ventures, SV Investment, Bluepoint Partners
CJYK	Rental Platform	-	Seed	C&Venture Partners, Korea Rental
Cheongmyong advanced materials		-	Seed	Gyeongg CCEI
IMEMINE	Fashion	-	Seed	Yozma Group Korea
Daytrip	Prophtech	1 billion	Seed	Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Bass Investment, Goodwarter Captial, Hance
Grepp	Career Platform	4.3 billion	Series A	Atinum Investment, TBT
8%	P2P	45.3 billion		BRV Capital Management, Glint Partners, SBI Investment
Gaudio Lab	Audio SW	11.3 billion	Series B	LB Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, Naver D2SF, DS Asset management, Capstone Partners
Kream	Resell Platform	100 billion	Series B	Mirae Asset Capital, Altos Ventures, Softbank Ventures
Interpark	Ecommece	294 billion	M&A	Yanolja
CTNS	Battery	-	Seed	Gyeongnam CCEI, Series Ventures, The Ventures, CNT Tech
Meta Marketing	Ad tech	3 billion	Seed

Major Funding

• Limited edition resale platform Kream raised 100 billion won in Series B investment. Having secured 20 billion won in March, the company has raised 140 billion won in total, the highest in the industry. It plans to expand categories, secure talent, and promote overseas expansion with the investment.
• A P2P financial service 8Percent received a 45.3 billion won investment from Silicon Valley investment companies. By converging financial and non-financial data accumulated using this investment, the company plans to expand partnerships with existing financial institutions and further advance mid-interest-rate loans and alternative investment services.
• Robo-advisor Fount raised 40 billion won. This investment will be used to recruit financial talents and strengthen technological capability in preparation for the MyData business.
• Metaverse audio company Gaudio Lab scooped 11.3 billion won. The company develops and supplies audio software for mobile devices such as OTT, streaming services, and smartphones.

#Trend Analysis

Going Global: Tips from Launchpad Global Partners

Six international accelerators from the United States, Japan, Singapore, France, the Middle East, and Finland have been participating in Launchpad, a global accelerating program operated by the Korea Creative Content Agency, since June. Launchpad was first started in 2017 as a project to support Korean content startups’ overseas expansion step by step. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, it has switched to an online program since last year and has focused on 1:1 consulting and business matching through its own platform. This year, in particular, the startups that were evaluated and selected directly by local accelerators will get funds and close mentoring for localization.

Accelerators will help the startups enter each regional market: Mind The Bridge for U.S. and Europe, Creative Valley for France, Maria01 for Finland, Shorooq Partners for the Middle East, Awesome Ventures for Singapore, and 01Booster for Japan.

The strength of Korean startups is their technical prowess.

Choi Seong-an, head of Mind The Bridge, and Yann Gozlan, CEO of Creative Valley, who have a lot of experience in supporting Korean startups’ overseas expansion, remarked that Korean content startups are now technologically competitive in the global market, citing their qualitative growth as well. Compared to the past, technology-based companies such as AI and machine learning have increased.

“The metaverse market is currently growing in Japan,” said Takeru Kawashima, the director of 01Booster. “Korea has a history of MMORPG games, an early version of the metaverse, and thus has technical expertise in this field. It will be able to attract the attention of Japanese companies.”

Ville Simola, CEO of Maria 01, also explained, “Gaming and entertainment industry is very promising in Finland.” He said, “When considering the environmental factors, Korean content companies will be able to settle down well with their technological strengths.” In addition, it is a good time for Korean startups to enter Singapore and Southeast Asia, whose people have a favorable image of Korea.

These accelerators emphasized the importance of product/market fit and language skills in overseas expansion. They didn’t forget to mention that it is necessary to understand cultural differences.

Meanwhile, the final teams for the Launchpad program are in the process of business matching through regional accelerating and customized support for each company. After the demo day in mid-November, they will focus on securing commercialization funds for localization and overseas expansion in early December.