[StartupRecipe] Investments Flood into Electric Vehicle Charging Startups

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[July. 10~ July. 14]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 99.5 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Greenda	ESG	-	Seed	Info Bank
Velymonkeys	K Beauty	4 billion	Series A	Company K Partners, Smilegate Investment
Coopmarketing	Mobile platform	-		Airasia superapp
WAD	Restaurant reservation	30 billion	SeriesD	Company K Partners, Altos Ventures, Woori Venture Partners, Hyundai Investment Partners
BETTER THAN SURF	Lifestye	-	Grant	Pre-TIPS
DMS Chemical	Sodium Silicate	-	Seed	Series Ventures
Certilife	Medical device	-	Seed	Angel Investors
Weflo	Advanced Air Mobility	3 billion	Pre-Series A	Kiwoom Investment, KODIT, GS Ventures, IBK
Hanyang Robotics	Industrial Robot	7 billion	Series B	DS Asset Management, Hana Financial Investment, Hi Investment
Sherpas	SaaS	-	Pre-seed	KB Investment
Everon	EV charging	50 billion		KDB Development Bank, DSC Investment, HB Investment, IBK, L&S Venture Capital, KDB Capital, Nau IB Capital, K2 Investment Partners, Seoul Investment Partners, E&Venture Partners
Nbias	Robotics	1.5 billion	Grant	Deeptech TIPS
SYMhealthcare	Digital Healthcare	-		CNTTech
Meisters	Home Appliances warranty service	-	Pre-Series A	Tinvestment
Best Graphene	Materials	8 billion	Series A	KDB Capital-L&S Venture Capital, NauIB Capital, Seoul Investment Partners, SL Investment, Solon Investment, Hana Securities, YMT
Econnect	ECO Packaging	-		MYSC
Clee	Proptech	-	Grant	TIPS
Robos	Robotics	300 million	Seed	Series Ventures
InHandPlus	Healthcare	3 billion	Series A	IPS Ventures, Strong Ventures, Maple Investment Partners, Genaxis, Muirwoods Ventures, MEDICNC

Major Funding

• Electric vehicle charging platform EverOn attracts KRW 50 billion investment. With its high-growth charging infrastructure revenue and differentiated on-site management system, EverOn exceeded its initial target of KRW 30 billion. EverOn currently has over 100,000 members and operates charging infrastructure for approximately 30,000 electric vehicles nationwide.
• Real-time restaurant reservation platform CatchTable operator Wad secures KRW 30 billion investment. With a cumulative investment of KRW 70 billion, Wad introduces real-time restaurant reservation services for its B2B solutions for stores and launches real-time waiting services, expanding its business scope. This investment will drive service enhancement and global version expansion.
• Battery material startup BestGraphene raises KRW 8 billion investment. Founded in 2017, the company utilizes functionalized graphene-based technology to develop composite materials for batteries and additives for electronic components. They aim to go public as a company by 2027.
• K-beauty commerce Macaron operator Velymonkeys secures KRW 4 billion. Operating a platform to help Korean cosmetics enter the Indian market since 2019, Velymonkeys offers access to 350 Korean brands. With this investment, they plan to provide a service introducing more Korean beauty brands.

#Trend Analysis

Investments Flood into Electric Vehicle Charging Startups

The electric vehicle (EV) market is experiencing rapid growth, and alongside it, investments in EV charging infrastructure startups are on the rise. In the first half of this year, over KRW 200 billion was injected into related startups, highlighting the increasing focus on this sector. Interestingly, while autonomous driving-related startups dominated over half of the total investments in the vehicle/mobility sector last year, the tide has now turned, with investment funds expected to flow towards electric vehicle charging infrastructure in 2023. Notably, a significant number of recent large-scale investment announcements are centered around electric vehicle charging startups.

One standout company in this burgeoning field is Daeyoung Cheabi, which secured a remarkable KRW 110 billion in investments and earned a place among the top five investments during the first half of the year. Offering a comprehensive range of services, from charger manufacturing to installation, maintenance, and operation, Daeyoung Chaebi has carved out a significant position in the domestic charging service market.

Another notable player, EverOn, an electric charger infrastructure company boasting an impressive membership of 100,000, recently announced a massive KRW 500 billion in investments. Surpassing their initial goal of KRW 300 billion, this substantial investment signifies investors’ recognition of EverOn’s high-growth revenue performance.

EVAR, an in-house venture of Samsung Electronics, has also been capturing attention both domestically and internationally. Garnering the prestigious CES Innovation Award for two consecutive years, EVAR has made waves by introducing autonomous driving electric vehicle chargers and deploying the world’s largest smart load-balancing charging infrastructure.

Furthermore, Pluglink has secured KRW 15 billion in investments for their electric vehicle charging assets, while eco-friendly e-mobility total solution Easy Charger obtained KRW 13.5 billion, showcasing the diverse opportunities within the electric vehicle charging startup ecosystem.

As the electric vehicle market continues to gain widespread adoption, Korean big companies, aside from Samsung, are making their way into the arena. These companies are either investing in existing startups or acquiring them, reflecting the growing potential and attractiveness of this market. Predictions suggest that the EV charging infrastructure market will expand even further, drawing interest not only from investment institutions but also from major corporations seeking startups with a competitive edge.