[StartupRecipe] Why Are Presidential Candidates Rushing To Meet Startups

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Dec. 13~ Dec.17]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 555 billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
Day1company	Education	10 billion		Cowell Investment Group Com2s, Crit Ventures
SeedN	Prophtech	-	GRANT	TIPS
Lambda 256	Blockchain	70 billion	Series B	Dunamu, Woori Technology Investment, Hanwhasystems, Chong Kun Dang Holdings, Yanolja, Daelim, VTI Partners, DSC Investment, Shinhan Ventures, KB Investment, SBI Investment Korea
Manna Corporation	Delivery	81.4 billion		Korea Investment Partners, Danal, IBK
Angrypets	Pettech	-		HY
Beyond Music Company	Music Rights	2 trillion		Praxis Capital Partners
Chequer	Data Governance	21 billion	Seed	Atinum Investment, Murex Partners, KB Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Primersazze Partners
B GARAGE	Drone	4.1 billion	Pre-Series A	Softbank Ventures, IMM Investment, BonAngels Venture Partners
Smoothy	Group video chat	-	M&A	Goorumi
Kasa	Prophtech	19 billion		Wemade
Smallbig Calss	Education	-	GRANT	TIPS
KB-ELEMENT	Graphene	7 billion	Series A	Kibo, Hanwha Investment & Securities, Shinhan Invesmtnet, Stic Ventures, K & Investment Partners, KB Investment
ACT Games	Game	-		Korea Credit Guarantee Fund
Creative Ballet soyes	Education	-	Seed	New Paradigm Investment
Oneimmers	VR	12 billion
Persona space	Metaverse	10 billion		Dunamu, Naver z
Orwellhealth	Mental healthcare	-	Seed	Spring Camp
Twoblock AI	AI	-		Daekyo
Dable	Ad tech	-		Yanolja
Bosalpim	Senior care	-	Seed	Strong Ventures, Digital Health Partners
Jocos	Video tech	5.5 billion	Series B	GS Retail, KB Securities, Solidus Investment, Sejong Venture Partners, Korea Asset Investment Securities, Kiwoom Investment
Spatial	Metaverse	30 billion		Pine Venture Partners, KB Investment, Korea Investment Partners, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Inovia Capital, White Star Capital, Lerer Hippeau
FriendliAI	AI	8 billion	Series A	Capstone Partners, KB Investment, KB Securities
Withu	Shortform content	-		Hashed
Barogo	Delivery	10 billion	Series C	Pacificbridge asset management
Swit Technologies	Collaboration tool	26 billion	Series A	SV Investment, Central, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, IMM Investment, Smilegate Investment, Dunamu & Partners, Hana Financial Investment, Klaus Partners, Primersazze Partners
Happy Moonday	Femtech	11 billion	Pre-Series B	Hana Ventures, Aju IB Investment, Kolon Investment, TS Investment, A Ventures, Spring Camp
Lion Rocket	AI Human	6.5 billion	Series A	ID Ventures, Daesung Venture Capital, Harang Invest, Industrial bank of Korea, T Investment
Nine2one	Mobility	-	M&A	Socar
Path	Education	6.8 billion	Seed	Company K Partners, IMM Investment, K2 Investment Partners, Bass Investment,
Nichic	Perfume	-	Seed	CNTTECH
GXC	Game	10.7 billion	se	Knet Investment, Korea Develpoment Bank, Tiger Investment, Vision Creator, Megazone
Jienem	Guesthouse O2O	-	Seed	CNTTECH
Himnanda	Food	1 billion		Woori Bank
Rootnstudio	Game	-	Series A	Daewonmedia
Campersground	Camping	-	Seed	MYSC, Eugene Investment
Galux	Bio/Healthcare	5 billion		Kakao Brain

Major Funding

• Beyond Music, a music rights investment company, raised more than 200 billion won in funding. It specializes in investing, acquiring, and managing music copyrights and related rights. This investment will aid the company in gaining verified music IPs both domestically and internationally.
• Manna Corporation, a comprehensive delivery platform, received an investment of 81.4 billion won. It plans to expand its delivery platform and launch Manna Eats, a single-order delivery created by a team of delivery drivers and merchants.
• Lambda256, a blockchain subsidiary of Dunamu, secured 70 billion won in investment. The funding will be used to secure talent and expand the ecosystem for Blockchain-as-a-Service Luniverse.
• Swit Technologies, which provides team collaboration SaaS Swit, raised 26 billion won. The company will use the funds to strengthen its product and expand globally, with plans to provide more advanced service in 13 languages next year.

#Trend Analysis

Why Are Presidential Candidates Rushing To Meet Startups

South Korean presidential candidates are looking for startup founders one after another ahead of the presidential election in March next year. Korea Startup Forum, an association of startups, arranged a meeting between two presidential candidates, Yoon Seok-yeol (People’s Power Party), Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party of Korea), and Korea’s leading startups to hear policy suggestions. Various startups in the blockchain, social, education, and healthcare sectors and unicorns representing Korea such as Viva Republica and Kurly participated in the event and addressed their grievances.

It is not just to win votes from young people in their twenties and thirties that candidates for president meet startups. It also demonstrates that there is a growing interest in next-generation startups that will support future industries and economies in the digital transformation.

The Korean startup ecosystem has become more active than ever before, but there are still problems to be solved. The biggest challenge is regulatory relief. The most successful hailing startup in Korea, Tada faced conflicts with the existing taxi association ahead of becoming a unicorn and eventually ended its service after 18 months. Conflicts between existing and new industries are a frequent problem in the startup ecosystem. However, as the government ruled in favor of existing industries and sanctioned startups with regulations, the startup service that could have created innovations in the transportation system eventually ended with a tragic result.

In addition, various regulations including those governing large platform companies such as Coupang and Baedal Minjok, telemedicine regulations, and financial regulations are putting a brake on startup innovation.

The two presidential candidates are voicing the same opinion on these regulatory issues. They both advocate introducing negative regulations. Korea currently has positive regulations, which means only businesses mentioned in the law are allowed and everything else is prohibited. The two candidates insisted on introducing negative regulations and a one-stop system. They stated that Korea’s current regulations are inefficient and unsuitable for newly growing companies like startups.

Lee Jae-myung emphasized the need for a one-stop administrative system that will lead to administrative efficiency by allowing government officials who receive complaints to handle the issue to the end. Candidate Seok-Yeol Yoon also proposed a plan to streamline the channel for resolving problems caused by different institutions interpreting the law differently and to deal with them within the deadline by implementing time limits.

They took a different stance on the growth of innovative companies. Candidate Lee put the social responsibility of innovative companies at the forefront, while Candidate Yoon focused on full support for the growth of startups. Lee emphasized fairness and shared growth, and Yoon advocated support for corporate growth and defense against traditional industries, reflecting each party’s tendencies.

Although some opinions differ depending on the political orientation, candidates for both parties are expected to continue promoting policies that can foster and support the startup ecosystem as the startup competitiveness is evaluated as national economic competitiveness.