[StartupRecipe] Korean Startups Founded by Women Are Diversifying

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[May. 8 ~ May. 12 ]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 8 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
TG Society	Mobility	-	Seed	Strong Ventures, HB Investment
Jun Company	Mobility	-	Seed	Kimgisa lab
Socialerus	Youtube channel marketplace	-	Seed	Pathfinder
Bolta	Tax solution	-	Seed	Spring Camp
AM Management	Digital Asset solution	-	Seed	D.CAMP, MOZAIC, Angel investor
Ecoinenergy	Upcyclying	-	Pre-Series A Bridge	MYSC
AES Tech	Green Energy	-	Seed	Schmidt
Sneakers	real time Info marketplace	500 million	Seed	CJ Investment, Ulsan CCEI
L4BOX	Education	-	Seed	ENSL Partners
Deep BlueDot	Consumer feedback	3.5 billion	Seed	Softbank Ventures, 500 Global, Fast Ventures, Kim Dong-shin, CEO Sendbird
Wave Lifestyletech	Kitchen Robotics	4 billion	Series A1	Shinhan Venture Investment, Signite Partners, Lighthouse Combine Invest, Spring Camp, Shinhan Capital
YESUNG GLOBAL	Construction equipment	-	Pre-Series A	Y&Archer
BBTree	Digital content	-	M&A	Sadoll metalab

Major Funding

• WaveLifestyleTech, a food tech robotics company, has successfully raised KRW 4 billion in funding. Established in 2018, the company specializes in providing advanced robotics solutions and kitchen management AI capabilities, including their innovative Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) offering.
• DeepBlueDot has secured KRW 3.5 billion in seed investment. The company specializes in operating Syncly, an AI-powered solution for analyzing customer feedback. Through Syncly, users can efficiently manage and consolidate customer feedback from multiple channels.
• Sneakers, a platform for live streaming and information sharing focused on renowned venues, has successfully secured an investment of 500 million won. The platform aims to provide real-time information to facilitate person-to-person transactions (C2C), enhancing the overall user experience.

#Trend Analysis

Korean Startups Founded by Women Are Diversifying

Korean startups founded by women are experiencing a remarkable diversification across various sectors. Historically startups founded by women primarily focused on beauty, childcare, and kids’ education, where they had a significant presence. However, there has been a notable surge in tech startups lately, with female founders gaining ground, particularly in the deep tech sector.

“In terms of attracting investments, the consumer tech sector remains dominant, while the fashion and beauty industry, traditionally associated with women, continues to thrive. Additionally, the pet tech sector has has gained a significant market share. In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of women-owned companies in digital healthcare and software as a service (SaaS).

In the healthcare domain, services addressing sleep tech, senior care, and wellness are gaining momentum, alongside advancements in medical devices. Simultaneously, women entrepreneurs are making strides in software, venturing into generative AI and offering B2B SaaS services. This shift represents a significant change, considering the scarcity of software-related companies founded by women in the past.

Additionally, a few women-led startups are emerging in gaming, manufacturing, and agriculture, contributing to the overall diversity of the startup ecosystem.

However, all of the leading women-founded companies in their respective sectors received large investments last year. Due to the deteriorating investment climate, no large investments have been reported this year.”.

Besides the sector diversity, there has been an encouraging uptick in the number of companies securing funding. In 2020, a mere 51 women’s companies received funding, but in 2022, that figure more than doubled to 114, indicating a significant increase. Although many of these investments are in the early stages, it is encouraging to see more women venturing into entrepreneurship.

Moreover, support for women’s businesses is expected to improve, as the South Korean government recently unveiled plans to inject a record-breaking 10.1 billion won this year into specialized projects aimed at bolstering women’s businesses.

The diversification of Korean startups founded by women is a positive development as it signifies a breaking of traditional gender roles and a valuable contribution to the economy.

It shows that women are breaking into traditionally male-dominated fields and are making a significant contribution to the economy. The government’s investment in women’s businesses further reinforces this trend, suggesting a future increase in the number of women-led startups.