[StartupRecipe] Diversification of Senior-Friendly Startups

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

#Weekly Funding Overview

[Dec. 12 ~ Dec. 16]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 207.7 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Bespin Global	Gloud	140 billion		e& enterprise
Scalar data	Electronic car charging	3 billion		GS Energy
Kiwi studio	Kids platform	-	GRANT	TIPS
Mathpresso	Education	21 billion	Series C	Goodwater Capital, Softbank Ventures, Mirae Asset Ventures, YBM, Signight Partners
Altdif	Tea brand	-	Pre-Series A	Strong Ventures, Smilegate Investment
Vibeon Corp	Education	1.2 billion	Pre-Series A	KT Investment, Saltlux
Jejumini	Travel	-	GRANT	TIPS
Metabone	NFT	500 million	Seed	Angels
‎ioCrops	Smart farm	3.6 billion	Series A	CKD Venture Capital, DSC Investment, Quad Ventures
Plugo	Ecommerce	12 billion	Series A	Altos Ventures, Bon Angels Partners, Mahanusa Capital, Prodigy Investment, Access Ventures, Pearl Abyss Capital
postype	Content	10 billion	Series B	Sui Generis Partners, Atinum Investment, Shinhan Venture Investment, We Ventures, KB Investment, Playmake Ventures
Needer	Job Matching	7 billion	Series B	The Wells Investment, Conna Investment, Hana Ventures, CJ Investment, Wanted Lab, Korea Investment Partners, BNK Venture Investment, K Bridge Ventures
Verticah	Fintech	2.6 billion	Seed	Crit Ventures, Ignite Innovation, KB Investment, Western Technology
nosework	Pettech	-	Pre-Series A	New Paradigm Investment
STYLE C	Reward Commerce	4 billion	Series A bridge	Korea Asset Investment & Securities, Union Investment Partners, We Ventures
Pore	food tech	2 billion		Lindman Asia Investment
EPIKAR	Mobiltiy	-	Series A	Korea Develpoment Bank
Powerplayer	Beuaty Commerce	800 million	Seed	Daekyung Technology Holdings, Wadiz Partners, Korea Venture Business Association
Havah	web3	-		Han River Ventures, MAMA Ventures

Major Funding

• Bespin Global, a cloud management service, has received a KRW 140 billion investment from e& Enterprise, the largest IT company in the UAE. The two companies will establish a joint venture with a base in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. They also have agreed on an additional investment of KRW 200 billion.
• Mathpresso, an AI learning platform Qanda operator, has secured an additional investment of KRW 21 billion and completed a KRW 77 billion Series C investment. The company has raised KRW 143 billion in total. If you take a picture of a math problem that you are having trouble with, AI will read it, solve it, and provide you with an explanation. Its service has come to prominence in Vietnam and other global markets.
• E-commerce platform Plugo has raised KRW 12 billion in funding. It is headquartered in Singapore and was established by the CEO of Codebrick. The company provides an all-in-one e-commerce solution. It recently released a closed beta service and will launch an official version early next year.

#Trend Analysis

Diversification of Senior-Friendly Startups

Senior-friendly businesses are more diversified in their trends. As more individuals choose to retire early, there are more active seniors who are capable of economic activities, and as COVID-19 has sparked a digital transformation across all industries, senior-friendly industries are becoming more diverse. Healthcare platforms that prioritize the wellbeing of seniors have so far gained a lot of traction. Recently, various internet-based startups have appeared, including ones that support older adults with high purchasing power in their leisure and shopping activities as well as employment services for the elderly.

The healthcare sector, and specifically those that transform offline, analog health management to digital, is the one that draws the greatest investment. Investors have focused their attention in particular on a platform that digitizes the nursing business based on caregiver brokerage and covers all healthcare services. Major caregiver platforms including Caredoc, Carenation, and Korea Senior Lab all received significant funding last year. Caring has secured the most funds this year, raising KRW 30 billion. It is a senior tech company improving the inefficiency in the nursing industry through digital transformation. It seeks to offer an integrated service that combines housing, nursing, and care so that the elderly can live out their final years in good health.

There are few but prominent services that cater to the interests, leisure, and shopping needs of active seniors. Losh Korea runs Siiso, a lifestyle platform for people in their 50s and 60s.  It is a leisure curation platform that broadens the cultural lives of seniors beyond local community centers.  Bind assists middle-aged consumers in purchasing sporting goods with its senior-friendly platform Athler. It is a vertical platform dedicated to leisure and sports, targeting active seniors in their 50s and 60s who still love engaging in leisure activities after retirement. With three first categories—golf, mountain climbing, and fishing—it intends to make mobile shopping simple for middle-aged consumers.

Greyscale operates the e-commerce platform for seniors, Greymall. 

In order to address the disparity in information among the elderly, there is an online mall for welfare medical equipment. Seniors with long-term care insurance can get customized welfare equipment with government aid. It minimizes the distribution stage and assists pricing search, curation, and even purchase. Some services are to create job opportunities for senior citizens. One of them is NaeYiLuLi, which employs senior delivery personnel to manage Ongoing, an integrated regular delivery solution. It fixes the logistical inefficiency of regular deliveries and gives elderly people stable jobs.

Company Name	Company Description	Investment Amount	Investment Stage	Investors
NaeYiLuLi	Regular Delivery Service by Seniors	Non-disclosure	Subsidy	TIPS
Bind	Leisure Platform for Seniors	Non-disclosure	Seed	Fast Ventures
Caring	Care Service for Seniors	KRW 30 Billion	Series A	LB Investment, SV Investment, DSC Investment, Korea Omega Investment Corporation, KB Investment, AJU IB INVESTMENT, NH Venture Investment, Kyobo Securities, ARK lmpact Asset Management, Hyundai Investment Partners, Quantum Ventures Korea, HGI, JB Investment, Main Street Investment, Bass Investment
Greyscale	E-Commerce for Seniors	Non-disclosure	Pre-Series A	New Paradigm Investment
Rowan	Digital Therapeutics for Seniors	KRW 6 Billion	Series A	Dt& Investment, NAU IB Capital, Industrial Bank of Korea, KD Investment
Human IT Solution	Healthcare for Seniors	KRW 1 Billion	Series A	Korea Development Bank
Losh Korea	Lifestyle Platform for Seniors	Non-disclosure	Seed	CNTTECH, The Invention Lab, Hana Financial Group
Live-Lively	Personalized Healthcare for Seniors	Non-disclosure	Seed	D.CAMP, FIND US, TheVentures