[StartupRecipe] Investment picked up in December

Access to the latest Korean startup news and startup database for free

#Weekly Funding Overview

[Dec. 27~ Dec.31]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 277.3 billion.

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
Greenlabs	Agriculture	35 billion		SK Square
RideFlux	Mobility	16.5 billion	Series A	Socar, Atinum Investment, SBI Investment Korea, Capstone Partners, Hyundai Investment Partners, Seoul Investment Partners, Envisioning Partners
STYLE C	Reward Commerce	10 billion	Series B	Wooribank, Stonebridge Ventures, Company K Partners, Korea Asset Investment Securities, Wired Partners
INTAKE	Food	3 billion	Pre-Series B	Idea Bridge Asset Management
Logispot	logistics	30 billion	Series C	Woori Private Equity Asset Management Company, Q Capital Partners
KDAC	Blockchain	-		Korea Information Certificate Authority
WalkyDoggy	Pettech	-	Seed	Seoul Techno Holdings
Tandem	Education	2 billion	Pre-Series A	Industrial bank of Korea, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, XnTree Ventures, J&S
Slab Asia	Coldchain solution	15 billion	Series B	Envisioning Partners, SKSPE, Korea Development Bank, TBT Partners, Hyundai Motors, Hana Financial Investment, K & Investment Partners, UTC Investment, NICE Investment Partners
Creatrip	content commece	4 billion	Series B	NICE Investment Partners, Altos Ventures, Shinhan Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Nau IB Capital, SJ Investment Partners
Tessa	FINTECH	4 billion	Series A	ECO Investment Partners, L&S Venture Capital, Medici Investment, Spring Camp
Payhere	Fintech	10 billion	Series A	Hashed, Softbank Ventures
Huino	Bio/Healthcare	43.5 billion	SE	KTB Network, YUHAN, NH Investment & Securities, Meritz Securities, Futureplay
Spacewavy	Prophtech	1 billion	Seed	Bluepointpartners
Purplelabs	Bio/Healthcare	20 billion		Murex Partners, Lighthouse Combined Investment, kolmar BNH, Fursys Holdings
Charco Neurotech	Bio/Healthcare	12 billion	Seed	Amadeus Capital Partners, Parkwalk Advisors, Mint Venture Partners, University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, Crista Gali Ventures
Codmos	Education	1 billion	Pre-Series A	Laguna Investment
Monthly kitchen	Food	23 billion	Series B	DS Asset Management, Humax, Shinhan Venture Investment
Cloa	Data Platform	6 billion	Seed	NaverD2SF, WeVentures, Stonebridge Ventures, KB Investment, Megazone, Super fast, T Investment
ISA Technologies	Cloud	2.4 billion	Pre-Series A	Platinum Technology Investment, BlissVine Ventures, S Ventures
nomnomnom	Food	-	Pre-Series A	Strong Ventures, P&I Investment
Pluglink	Mobility	-	Pre-Series A	Schmidt, Hana Ventures, MC partners
BIG3	Fashion	-	Seed	CCEIJeju
Aeonus	Mobility	-	Seed	CCEIJeju
Rt Data Lab	Software	-	Seed	CCEIJeju
Fastane	Beauty	12 billion	Series B	Daekyo Investment, IBK Capital, IMM Investment, Maple Investment Partners, MAGNA Investment, NICE Investment Partners, Korea Investment Partners, Shinhan Venture Investment, Woori Bank, Yuanta Investment
Fertilerains	Game	-		ATU Partners
Openthetable	HMR	-		Hyundaicorporation Holdings
Stage9	Coworking space	-	Seed	ENSL Partners
GNA Company	Bio/Healthcare	1.2 billion	Pre-Series A Bridge	TBT Partners
Nanobio System	Bio/Healthcare	2 billion	Pre-Series A	Kibo
Secondlist	Food	6 billion	Series A	GAIA Venture Partners, Midasdong-a Investment, NVC, Fresheasy
Danagreen	Cultured meat	8 billion	Series A	Lotte Ventures, Timewise investment, Pathfinder H, Penture Invest, Hi Investment Partners
raonark	Smartlock	-	Pre-Series A	Planh Ventures
PSX	Fintech	4.5 billion	Pre-Series A	Hashed, Capstone Partners
Amuse Travel	Social Venture	-		Hyndai dream tour
Arkive	Shared Salon	1.8 billion	Pre-Series A	Sunbo Angel Partners, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund
Stoic Entertainment	Metaverse	3 billion	Pre-Series A	Line Studio, KITE Entrepreneurship Foundation, KB Investment, Hanwha Investment & Securities
Lenif	Smart Chair	-	Pre-Series A	Hana Ventures

Major Funding

• Huinno, which develops AI-based medical devices, raised 43.5 billion won. It aims for the largest market share in Korea and then going global.
• Agricultural company Greenlabs attracted strategic investment from SK Square. It plans to expand ESG management and target overseas markets, focusing on China and other Asian countries.
• Digital logistics startup LogiSpot attracted a strategic investment of 30 billion won. It will expand the value chain in the logistics industry and advance the platform to strengthen customer service.
• HONT, the operator of the restaurant platform Monthly Kitchen, secured investment. It will upgrade digital solutions that can be applied to the entire food service industry.
• Autonomous driving startup RideFlux raised 16.5 billion won. It will expand the service area and type, aiming to provide autonomous driving services in major cities nationwide by 2024.
• S.Lab Asia secured a 15 billion won investment with cold chain containers transporting medicines and food. It plans to secure talent with investment and strengthen solution competitiveness.

#Trend Analysis

Investment picked up in December. More than 1 trillion won flooded into startups.

In 2021, Korean startups are predicted to raise more than 13 trillion won in investment, more than tripling from 2020. Due to the government’s active support, increased interest in Korean startups from global VCs, and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a record-breaking amount of investment was concentrated on startups in 2021.

In December, the last month of 2021, both the amount of investment and the number of investments increased significantly compared to the previous month. As if making up for all the stagnant investment performance over the past few months, monthly fundings exceeded 1 trillion won and recorded 1.4282 trillion won. The number of monthly investments reached 172, the largest number this year.

Kurly secured the most funds, attracting 250 billion won. Ahead of the IPO in 2022, it received a large amount of investment from private equity funds in Hong Kong and was valued at 4 trillion won.

Investment increased at all levels as monthly investment performance returned to more than 1 trillion won. 34 companies raised more than 10 billion won, 7 companies raised more than 50 billion won, and 3 companies raised more than 100 billion won in a mega-round investment. In addition to the amount of investment, the number of investments also climbed dramatically in December due to the increase in seed and pre-series A level startups. Proportionally, the number of investments before the Series A phase accounted for 40% of the total. 

With 23 female-founded companies successfully raising funds in December, it was the month with the most female-founded enterprises attracting investment. 

Kurly raised a total of 485.4 billion won this year, with an additional 250 billion won raised ahead of its pre-IPO next year, drawing the greatest investment as a female-led startup in 2021. In addition, a live commerce platform Grip Company raised 180 billion won from Kakao. It will cooperate to strengthen Kakao’s commerce capabilities. 

It seems that startups with abundant funds acquire similar or heterogeneous startups as a strategy for market preoccupation and expansion. Car-sharing platform Socar acquired Modu Company, an online parking platform, and Nine2one, a shared electric bicycle operator, in order to improve its competitiveness in the mobility industry. Yanolja acquired AI ad-tech business Dable in order to create synergy with Yanolja Cloud.

TOP 15

Company Name	Sector	Amount of Investment	Investment Round
Kurly	Fresh food delivery	250 billion won	pre-IPO
Beyond Music Company	Music investment	200 billion won	Non-disclosure
Manna Corporation	Delivery platform	81.4 billion won	Non-disclosure
People Fund	Fintech	75.9 billion won	Series C
Lambda256	Blockchain	70 billion won	Series B
Chai Corporation	Fintech	53 billion won	Series B bridge
Huinno	Bio/healthcare	43.5 billion won	Series C
Greenlabs	Smartfarm	35 billion won	Non-disclosure
Spatial	Metaverse	30 billion won	Series B
Logispot	Logistics	30 billion won	Series C