[StartupRecipe] Roadmap to Join the Top Five Space Powers– Space Startups Raise Their Hopes

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Nov. 28~ Dec. 2]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 79.2 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
AIFRICA	AI	-	M&A	Brainz company
Staybility	Prophtech	-		Kim bongjin
Skylink	Nocode	-	Grant	TIPS
Vetteckorea	Pettech	-	Pre-Series A	New Paradigm Investment
Overtake	Fintech	3 billion	Series A	KT, LGU+, SK Telecom
erangtek	Manufacture	3 billion	Series A	Hana Financial Investment, Magna Investment, IBK
NRISE	Consumertech	12.5 billion	Series B	Korea Investment Partners, Daekyo Investment, LB Investment, Bokwang Investment
Worksmate	Worker Matching	4 billion	Pre-Series A	NHN Investment, IBK, Plan H Ventures, Infobank, Korea Social Investment, DT & Investment, Seoul Investment Partners, Seoul Business Agency
Houyhnums	Metaverse	3 billion	Pre-Series A	A Ventures, Open water Investment
Autostay	Car washing	-		SK Energy
DeepLeHR	HR	-	Grant	TIPS
Livelively	Senior Care	-	Seed	The Ventures
Estate Cloud	Prophtech	1 billion	Series A	CJ Investment
ASWEMAKE	Ecommerce	5 billion	Series A	Nanuri Equity Partners, New Paradigm Investment, Startup Research, Busan Bank, JB Investment, HGI, Philosopia Ventures, Smilegate Investment,
Powercube semi	Semiconductor	-	Series B	GameChanger Investment, Bilanx Investment,
Mint	Performance Marketing	-	M&A	thesmc group
ALLSU	Eco friendly	700 million		SOIL
Jennerbio	petech	-	Seed	KOSME
Meta texture	Foodtech	-	Seed	Sopoong Ventures
Jeongyookgak	Foodtech	47 billion	Series D	Atinum Investment, KDB Development Bank, Premier Partners, Capstone Partners, Stone Bridge Ventures, NH Investment & Securities

Major Funding

• D2C food tech startup Jeongyukgak has raised KRW 47 billion in Series D investment. With this funding, it will focus on online commerce and suspend new businesses.
• NRISE has secured a KRW 12.5 billion Series B bridge funding. Established in 2011, the company runs the online home training platform QUAT and the social discovery service WIPPY.
•  Aswemake, which operates the O2O delivery service Qmarket, has received a KRW 5 billion series A investment. It links medium and large-sized offline retailers with consumers and offers same-day delivery using downtown supermarkets as delivery bases.

#Trend Analysis

Roadmap to Join the Top Five Space Powers– Space Startups Raise Their Hopes

The government recently unveiled a space economic roadmap to join the top-five space powers. The roadmap includes establishing the Korea Aerospace Administration, which will lead aerospace policy-making, research, and development, and creating a dedicated fund to invest in private space startups. As a result, domestic space startups seem to have higher growth opportunities. Although interest in space startups has grown in Korea since the launch of the Nuri, there are still only a handful of domestic startups, and the amount of investment is insufficient. According to Startup Recipe data, only KRW 162.3 billion has been invested overall in Korea’s major space startups. However, some startups have recently attracted investors’ interest by securing sizable financing and preparing to go public as a result of their technology and growth potential.

Contec received KRW 61 billion in funding this year, making it the most well-funded space startup. It is a platform startup that offers data reception and satellite image pre-processing services to satellites operated by domestic and foreign government agencies, as well as the public and private sectors, through the space ground station. Starting with the Jeju space ground station in 2019, it has established ground stations around the world, including Ireland, Sweden, and the United States. It also supported three international ground stations abroad to aid the second launch of the Nuri. The company plans to promote listing in the second half of 2023.

Some startups develop rockets themselves. Innospace, a smallsat launcher manufacturer founded in 2017, is working on a hybrid rocket engine that combines the strengths of solid and liquid rockets. Recently, it signed a contract with the Alcântara Space Center run by the Brazilian Air Force and started test-launching HANBIT, a 15-ton, two-stage smallsat launch vehicle developed in-house. It is also preparing to commercialize the technology. It secured pre-IPO funding this year and announced a listing on the KOSDAQ in 2024. Another rocket developer is Perigee Aerospace, which was established in 2016. It is a liquid fuel-based space rocket startup that is developing a 1.8-ton rocket Blue Whale. It plans to complete the development of the launch vehicle in 2023, provide commercial services in 2023, and aim to be listed on the KOSDAQ in 2024. 

Nara Space Technology manufactures nanosatellite systems and components and provides a platform for utilizing satellite data. It aims to be a comprehensive solution provider in the nanosatellite market. The startup received KRW 10 billion this year. It will launch its own 40cm-tall nanosatellites, Observer 1A and Observer IB, into space next year to conduct performance tests.

Una Stella develops the only private crewed space launch vehicle in Korea. 

As a brand-new company founded in February of this year, it seeks to offer sub-orbital space travel services by creating a launch vehicle capable of manned spaceflight up to an altitude of 100 km. It is gaining attention since space travel is projected to become more common in the future. It currently designs and develops its own engine based on the electric motor pump cycle engine system. 

In addition to the dedicated fund for the aerospace industry, the government also announced that it would select ten promising industries this year and foster 1,000 startups. As the list includes aerospace and marine industry, space startups are expected to gain more power.

Company Name	Company Description	Investment Amount	Investment Stage	Investor
Contec	Satellite Control	KRW 61 Billion	Series C	Spring Ventures, STIC Ventures, Partners Investment, TONY Investment, Yuanta Investment, Company K Partners, Daishin Securities, Korea Investment Partners, Korea Development Bank, Atinum Investment
Nara Space Technology	Nanosatellite	KRW 10 Billion	Series A	Korea Development Bank, Hana Ventures, Kolon Glotech, BNK Venture Capital, Posco Capital, Hi Investment Partners
Innospace	Smallsat Launcher	KRW 20 Billion	Pre-IPO	Korea Investment Partners, Korea Development Bank, K2 Investment Partners, Maple Investment Partners , ETRI Holdings, Shinhan Venture Investment , TONY Investment, Staco
Una Stella	Manned Space Launch Vehicle	Non-Disclosure	Subsidy	TIPS