[StartupRecipe] South Korean Startup Funding Dips in August

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Sep. 4~ Sep. 8]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 145.8 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Iamhere	Furniture platform	1 billion	Pre-Series A
Disco	Proptech	-	Series B bridge	Translink Investment
YeolhyulKangho	Webtoon IP	-	Pre-Series A	Naver webtoon, Laguna Investment, KB Investment
Madeleine Memory	Secondhand market solution	-	Pre-Series A	Coolidge Corner Investment, D.Camp, Angel Investors
BBodek	Cleaning service	18 billion	Series B	IBK Investment & Securities, NexTrans, IGIS Asset Management
Story Protocol	Web3	71.2 billion	Series A	a16z, Samsung Next, Endevor Group, Angel Investors
Bluefrog	Discount solution	200 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
Losh Korea	Senior care	100 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
Seoul Property Insight	Proptech	300 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
Realizable	Proptech	100 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
The vplanet	Ad tech	200 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
Floyd	Robot vision system	200 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
Kalman	Robotics	450 million	Seed	Kukbo Design, Woomi E&C, SamKoo I&C, Ajou Continuum, The Inventionlab
Mobidoo	Live commerce	7 billion	Series B Bridge	Kiwoom Investment, V Platform Investment, SBI Investment. Hana Securities
Enhans	AI commerce solution	7.5 billion	Series A	L&S Venture Capital, KDB Capital, Timefolio Asset Management, AOA Capital Partners
Supergate	Fabless	13 billion	Series B	Stick Ventures, Albatross Investment, NauIB Capital, Shinhan Capital
Aimmo	AI Data solution	14.4 billion	Pre-IPO	Nvestor, Korea Investment & Securities, DS Asset Management, S&S Investment, E&Investment
lane4 company	Mobility	-		Starventures
VA Studio	VFX	-	M&A	VA Corporation
Gloud	Dental Healthcare	-		Hana Financial Group
Enkorwithus	Foreigner service	-	Grant	TIPS
Studiomatak	Content studio	-	Grant	TIPS
Shinstarr	Food robotics	5.7 billion	Series A	Woowha brothers, Knet Investment, Hana Securities, Wiz Domain, NauIB Capital, Enlight Venture
CLE	Machine vision	3.5 billion	Pre-Series A	Future Play, Shinhan Capital, KB Investment, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, Union Investment Partners

Major Funding

• Storyprotocol attracts KRW 71.2 billion in investment. Storyprotocol is a web3.0-based IP infrastructure startup that supports easy management of the entire IP development process, including licensing, and provides features like revenue sharing. It has gained attention with investments from major global players like a16z.
• Bboddek secures KRW 18 billion in investment, completing a KRW 51 billion series B investment. Bboddek operates services like ‘Bboddek kids,’ which rents out sterilized dishes to childcare centers, and ‘Bboddek Biz,’ which offers dishwashing and dish rental services to foodservice establishments. They have surpassed 2,000 clients and plan to expand their service area with the investment.
• Supergate has secured KRW 1.3 billion in investment. Established in 2018, Supergate is a fabless company and a Level-0 design house that engages with customers from the early stages of semiconductor design for discussions on specifications and progresses with the design.

#Trend Analysis

South Korean Startup Funding Dips in August

In August, startup funding in South Korea hit KRW 359.4 billion, marking a significant dip from July and a whopping 69% decline compared to the same period in 2022. What’s more concerning is that the influx of capital into startups this year falls short of the levels seen in 2020.

Fortunately, a single company’s impressive KRW 100 billion infusion helped keep the total funding above the KRW 300 billion mark. However, the month-to-month funding landscape remains volatile, lacking a discernible trend line.

The standout recipient of funding was Korea Credit Data (KCD), which raked in a cool KRW 100 billion. This achievement comes hot on the heels of KCD attaining unicorn status just last year. Following closely behind was the fabless startup Sapeon, securing KRW 60 billion, and Indian fintech trailblazer Balance Hero, bagging KRW 30 billion.

In terms of sectors, software companies specializing in AI solutions emerged as the biggest beneficiaries of funding. Notably, the fintech sector also witnessed a resurgence in largescale investments. The bio/healthcare domain, spanning medical devices and new drug ventures, experienced a notable surge in funding through Series B and beyond rounds. Meanwhile, manufacturing, including space and robotics, garnered considerable attention from investors. Early investments were also seen in Pettech.

The count of successful companies amassing over KRW 10 billion dwindled to fewer than ten. Despite KRW 100 billion in investments, a disproportionate distribution persisted, with one company commanding a staggering 27% of the total. Interestingly, despite the overall dip in funding, the percentage of growth-stage firms at Series B and beyond registered an uptick from the first half-year average.

M&A activity remained below the ten-mark. Notably, in August, UCK Partners made waves with its KRW 105 billion acquisition of the popular Korean dessert brand, Sulbing. Other noteworthy listings included the collaboration between Crowdworks and NAVER HyperClovaX.

August saw nine female-founded companies collectively raise KRW 13.7 billion. While this stands as an encouraging sign for the growth of women-led startups in South Korea, it’s worth noting that initial investments were exclusively made by women, and a significant portion of the funding came from government subsidies. This dynamic could potentially pose a growth limitation for these ventures.