[StartupRecipe] HR SaaS Market is Growing

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Mar.21 ~ Mar.25]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 210.6 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Wehuddling	Foodtech	9 billion	Series A	Nau IB Capital, Nonghyup Bank, SJ Investment Partners, UTC Investment, Kyobo
Storelink	Marketing Solution	9 billion	Series B	Partners Investment, Hana Ventures, SK Securities, SJ Investment Partners
Twelvelabs	AI Video Search	6 billion	Seed	Index Ventures, Expa, Radical Ventures
i Divine	AI bigdata	-	Seed	Future Play
Myfair	Conference booking	-	Seed	New Paradigm Investment
Jobis & Villains	Tax	30 billion	Series B Bridge	HB Investment, Atinum Investment, Capstone Partners, Korea Omega Investment, DSC Investment, Premier Partners
Onepredict	B2B AI	30 billion	Series C	Stonebridge Ventures, Atinum Investment,KTB Network,Korea Develpoment Bank, Shinhan Bank, SK Securities, LB Investment, LG Energy solution, GS Power
Kinolights	OTT search platform	2.5 billion	Pre-Series A	Union Investment Partners, LG UPLULS, Kakao Ventures, Shinhan Capital
Payhere	Fintech	2 billion	Series A	Mirae Asset Capital
Elephant	Contech	-	Seed	Spring Camp
Blinkers	NFT	-	Seed	Bluepointpartners
Kaflix	Car Rental	-		Yanolja
Secle	Cleaning	-	M&A	Barogo
DAL Company	Healthcare	-	Seed	Smilegate Investment
onesglobal	Digital Healthcare	-	Seed	Korea Venture Investment
Creallo	Manufacturing service	-	Seed	Crypton
Saengong	Commodity Brand	12 billion	Series A	IMM Investment, A Ventures, CJ ENM
IDKLAB	Manufacture	3.5 billion	Series A	Posco Capital, Hanyang-eng
Poinblack	Education	2 billion	Pre-Series A	Philian Venture Investment, Honest Ventures, Root Ventures
Carchap	Mobility	1.5 billion	Pre-Series A	Futureplay, Laguna Investment, Time Works Investment
FiNovus Lab	B2B PNPL	-	GRANT	TIPS
Avatye	Ad tech	-	M&A	Buzzvil
You need character	Animation	-		MYSC
Blockodyssey	Blockchain	-	Series A	SKnetworks, Hahsed, SB Partners, KT&G, Timewise Investment, KB, Hana Ventures
Dongnae	Fintech	25 billion	Series A	NFX, Daol Investment, Hana Financial, Hana Bank, Eugenebank, Metaproph, iloom, Han River Partners, Flybridge, Maple VC
Music cow	Fintech	6 billion		Hanwha Systems
Artificial Society	Education	-		Naver D2SF, Kakao Ventures, Markncompany, Yoonmin Foundation
Social Investing Lab	Fintech	-	Pre-Series A	SK Securities, Industrial bank of Korea
EMOCOG	Digital therapeutics	15 billion	Pre-Series A	Kakao Ventures, Stonebridge Ventures, GC Pharma, SV Investment
Brich	Ecommerce	6 billion	Series B	BDC LABS, T Investment, Wooribank, DK Investment Partners
Craving Collector	Fashion	5.5 billion	Pre-Series A	Kream
blabla ENM	Meta Voice	3 billion	Series A	ZER01NE, KTB Network, KYOBO Securities
Gori AI	Last mile solution	3 billion	Seed	4PX Experss
PSX	Fintech	1.5 billion	Series A	Posco Capital
Switchwon	Fintech	1.1 billion	Seed	Busan Technology Holdings, Risings ventures, Posco Capital
Fnbpeople	Foodtech	1 billion		Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, HYUNDAI VENTURE INVESTMENT
Beautymakers	Beauty	-	Seed	The Invention lab
NUTRABBIT	Food	-	Seed	The Invention lab
Wiselection	Bio/Healthcare	-	Seed	The Invention lab

Major Funding

• OneFredict has attracted 30 billion won in investment. Its solution GuardiOne diagnoses the condition of key facilities based on industrial AI algorithms and predicts failures in advance.
• Digital healthcare startup Emocog has raised 15 billion won. It develops and supplies Cogthera, the digital treatment for patients with mild cognitive impairment at the pre-dementia stage.
• Dongnae, a finTech startup for residential real estate, has received a 25 billion won investment. It runs Dongnae FLEX, which provides premium apartments with lower deposits and an average discount of over 98 percent.

#Trend Analysis

HR SaaS Market is Growing

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global investment is focused on HR Tech companies. Demand for HR solutions is growing as many companies have introduced HR tech solutions to effectively reduce the time and cost required for personnel management, and job seekers can conveniently apply for employment. In particular, HR SaaS startups that enable quick recruitment and efficient management of talent are gaining popularity in the IT market, where fierce competition for hiring talent takes place.

In Korea, investment in HR tech startups is on the rise: HR SaaS startups that provide attendance management, payroll settlement, and personnel management. Flex is one of the leading companies in the field. It has secured 38 billion won worth of Series B investment from Greenoaks Capital and DST Global, raising the most investment in the HR tech industry last year. Lemonbase is a platform focused on personnel evaluation. It has systematized personnel evaluation which was formerly done on a whim. Within a year and a half after its launch, it has secured more than 1,000 customers, including Lotte Food and Kakao.

Shiftee, a workforce management software, was acquired by SaaS company BusinessOn Communication last year for 28 billion won. Shiftee has grown rapidly by securing 150,000 clients, from large companies to startups, and succeeded in selling the business four years after its establishment.

Early-stage startups are also attracting investors’ attention. Doodlin is a recruitment management solution that makes it simple to handle tiresome tasks like managing applicant data and adjusting interview schedules. It is used by more than 1,300 startups and large corporations. Last year, it received investment from Altos Ventures, which invested in Korean unicorns such as Coupang and Toss.

With the growth of the HR market, more and more companies are expanding their services to HR recruitment fields based on their existing services. A business card management app Remember is growing into a recruitment platform based on its community and talent searching service with vast numbers of users as weapons. Remember is an affiliate of Naver. Last year, it received 160 billion won in investment from SaraminHR and others, and it is now aiming to preoccupy the HR market 

Jobplanet, Korea’s answer to Glassdoor, recently opened a private recruitment center. Based on its corporate DB, the company plans to provide an integrated service that allows users to see the interview reviews, company reviews, salary, welfare information, and employment application at once. TeamBlind, an anonymous community app, also operates a service for hiring experienced workers.

For the time being, HR tech businesses are projected to remain attractive among venture capital firms. The HR tech market is expanding rapidly due to the prolonged pandemic. As more companies feel the need for efficient talent management, the related market and investment are expected to grow as well.