South Korea Startup News Digest

Seoul, South Korea

April 21, 2014

Saudi...IT company pioneering 'land of opportunity'

  Major information technology (IT) companies in Korea have set up overseas subsidiaries or joint ventures with local companies to target the global market this year. The goal is to break away from the narrow domestic market and create new revenue streams overseas to improve performance

.According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 18th, Afrika TV (067160) recently completed the rebranding of its Thai subsidiary.

With the appointment of Young-Woo Choi, head of the Global Business Division, who previously led the esports business at Riot Games Korea, the number of employees has increased from about 10 to about 30. Afrika TV has overseas subsidiaries in Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, and North America, but Thailand is the only overseas subsidiary that has completed the rebranding.

Afrika TV, which changed its name to SOOP at the annual shareholders' meeting held last month, plans to expand the Southeast Asian market in earnest using its Thai subsidiary as a base. An Afrika TV official explained, "The Thai subsidiary will serve as the headquarters of the overseas business," and "the appointment of Mr. Choi, who is leading the company's overall global business, as the head of the corporation means that the Thai subsidiary is just as important."Smilegate established a subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan, last month and appointed Baek Young-hoon, the head of Smilegate Holdings' Megaport Division, who is known as "Nippon Tong," as the head of the corporation. Smilegate aims to discover competitive content in Japan, an intellectual property (IP) powerhouse, and publish it to the global market.

As Saudi Arabia embarks on major infrastructure investments, including the construction of NEOM City, the construction industry is experiencing a "second Middle East boom," and more and more IT companies are planning to establish joint ventures (JVs) with local companies or establish local subsidiaries. AhnLab (053800) will establish a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's state-owned company SITE. AhnLab will jointly invest 25% and Site will share 75%, and the JV establishment will be completed in the first half of this year. Kang Seok-kyun, CEO of AhnLab, emphasized, "With the establishment of this JV, we plan to expand the business scope of AhnLab's security and cloud solutions to the Middle East and North Africa regions.

"Naver, which has been making efforts in the Middle East since early on, is also planning to establish a local subsidiary in Saudi Arabia within this year. Sunju Chae Naver External Exhibition· It is reported that the direction has been set for the ESG representative to serve as the head of the local subsidiary. CEO Chae is known to have played a big role in winning a $100 million (about 138.5 billion won) digital twin platform project from the Saudi Arabian government in October last year.

Kakao Healthcare's strategy is to enter the Japanese and U.S. markets within the year. Hwang Hee, CEO of Kakao Healthcare, said earlier this year, "After launching the blood sugar management service 'Pasta' in Korea, we will challenge the global market in earnest by targeting Japan and the United States," and added, "We are currently in discussions with regional partners and will materialize our overseas business within the year." CEO Hwang recently attended the 'Google Cloud Next 2024' event held in Las Vegas, USA, and discussed business cooperation plans with various global companies.  

https://n.news.naver.com/article/011/0004329774

A total of 9 trillion won in bank investment 'Future Energy Fund' launched this year

  The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced on the 17th that it held an agreement ceremony for the creation of the Future Energy Fund at the Jung-gu Bank Hall in Seoul with the participation of the Korea Development Bank and five major commercial banks, including Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and Nonghyup.

At the signing ceremony, Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said, "Korea urgently needs to expand renewable energy facilities as the proportion of renewable energy in power generation is lower than the OECD average" and added, "The government expects the share of renewable energy generation to be 21.6% by 2030, but the reality is that a large amount of funds of about 188 trillion won are needed to achieve this.

"He added, "The Future Energy Fund, which was created by the bank, will play a role in ensuring that 160 trillion won, which corresponds to the financial demand, out of the total required 188 trillion won, can be successfully raised in the market as the actual investment is carried out during this year."  

VCs are coming"... Busan is the cradle of venture startups

  The Korea Development Bank (KDB), which is considered to be a "big player" in the startup investment industry, and Korea Venture Investment's strategy to strengthen local skinship is yielding results. It is evaluated that domestic venture capital (VC) companies have created an opportunity to turn their attention to Daejeon and Busan instead of the metropolitan area, where competition for attracting investment funds and finding investment destinations is fierce.

Taking advantage of this atmosphere, the city of Busan also started to strengthen the start-up ecosystem by creating a local investment venture fund worth 101 billion won.

According to the VC industry on the 18th, Ascendo Ventures, a VC headquartered in Seoul, plans to move its headquarters to Busan in the first half of this year. Lee Jung-seok, CEO of Ascendo Ventures, is known as an early investor in Toss. Born in Busan, he graduated from KAIST and worked in investment at LS Group, LB Investment, and Cheil Worldwide. Founded in 2017, Ascendo Ventures is a mid-sized VC firm that has invested in more than 80 companies in Korea and abroad with a fund of about 140 billion won.

The VC industry believes that the formation of a non-metropolitan area-focused fund by Korea Venture Investment, which is in charge of funding funds for domestic parent funds, was a decisive moment for Ascendo Ventures to move its headquarters to Busan. Last month, Ascendo Ventures was selected as a consignment manager for the 'Southeast Regional Innovation Venture Fund' hosted by Korea Venture Investment.  

https://n.news.naver.com/article/015/0004974543

Startup Investment Trends in Q1, Glaciers Didn't Melt

In the first quarter of this year, investment in domestic startups was better than the previous year. According to the Startup Alliance's 'Startup Investment Report' on the 18th, the total number of investments by startups in the first quarter of this year increased by 7.7% year-on-year to 293, and the investment amount increased by 57.6% to KRW 1.4039 trillion. 

However, upon closer inspection, it was found that the investment was not evenly distributed across all sectors, but rather focused on specific sectors. Startup investment in the first quarter was concentrated in industry-specific solutions and manufacturing using artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud. 

In addition, serving robot startup Bear Robotics (about 80 billion won), travel product brokerage platform My Real Trip (75.6 billion won), biogas manufacturer ADP Green (60 billion won), note-taking app Flexle (50 billion won), used car platform Hey Dealer operator PR&D Company (45 billion won), 3D display developer Overdigm K (45 billion won), autonomous driving support technology company Stradvision (42 billion won), and senior care service Kering (40 billion won) attracted the largest amount of investment. 

https://byline.network/2024/04/18-327/

SK Networks leaving SK rent-a-car... Securing financial soundness and taking a leap forward as an 'AI company'

  SK networks plans to advance the business models of its subsidiaries, such as SK Magic and Encore, based on artificial intelligence (AI) to become an 'AI company'.Last year's debt-to-equity ratio was 322.59%..."It could be reduced by 'half' if the sale proceeds"According to industry sources on the 18th,SK networks will sell SK Rent-a-Car to global private equity fund Affinity Equity Partners. Specific conditions are being negotiated.

Considering that the re-announcement is scheduled for July, it is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The planned sale amount is about 850 billion won.SK networks is expected to secure a large amount of financial resources through this sale. According to last year's business report, SK networks' debt-to-equity ratio rose 34.98 percent to 322.59 percent from 287.61 percent the previous year, exceeding the normal safety standard of 200 percent. The current ratio, which is the benchmark for cash mobilization, is also below 100% at 60.68%, which is a level of concern for risk.  

https://n.news.naver.com/article/031/0000829678

Gala Launches Blockchain-Based Movie Streaming Platform 'Gala Film'

Gala, a blockchain entertainment company, announced on the 16th that it has launched the movie platform 'Gala Film'. The biggest feature of the Gala Film platform is its unique tokenized ecosystem system, which empowers filmmakers and rewards users who participate in its operations or watch films.

First of all, by introducing the 'Watch and Earn' (W&E) system, Gala Film users can earn rewards just by watching movies. In return, the operators of the 'Theater Nodes' that host the content distributed through the Gala Film platform will receive 'FILM', the official token of the Gala Film ecosystem, as a reward.

Galachain's DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) leverages idle GPU and CPU power around the world to deliver high-quality movies through a decentralized content delivery network (DCDN). Even as the amount of content increases, it ensures a seamless, scalable, and secure viewing experience.

With the launch of the platform, Gala Film has released two episodes of the eight-episode original series 'RZR' for the first time. RZR is a sci-fi thriller series set in Los Angeles, USA, and deals with a dystopian future tainted by neuronal transplants, the black market, and various cybercrimes. Actor and director David Bianchi, who has worked on more than a hundred films such as "True Story" and "Resident Alien," produced and starred in the film.

https://www.techm.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=123132&page=3&total=5551

Naver Pay launches 'QR remittance' service... Easy bank transfer at the local market

Naver Pay announced on the 18th that it has launched the 'QR Remittance' service, which allows customers to quickly and easily transfer money using the QR code provided in the store when purchasing by bank transfer at small businesses such as local markets and street vendors.

Naver Pay's QR remittance service is a service that allows buyers to quickly and easily transfer money by taking a mobile photo of the QR code for remittance presented at the store, and both small business owners and users can solve the hassle of guiding and entering the account number at a busy business site and mistaken remittance due to incorrect entry of the account number.

Small business owners who want to provide Naver Pay QR remittance service to buyers can generate a QR code that can be sent directly from the Naver Pay app, and if they apply separately, they can also receive a free product that can have a QR code in their store. It is intuitively configured so that any Naver Pay user can easily send money by simply scanning the QR code, so small business owners only need to guide the QR code in the store without having to explain how to use it to the buyer. In addition, after the completion of the QR transfer, the remittance amount is displayed in large size on the buyer's mobile screen, enabling smoother communication between small business owners and buyers to confirm the remittance.

https://www.techm.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=123265&page=2&total=5551

LG Chem joins hands with climate startups to create a carbon sink the size of three football fields

  According to climate startup 'Thankscarbon' on the 19th, LG Chem (051910), the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, and the international relief and development NGO Hunger Action carried out the marine ecosystem restoration work near Daegyeong Island off the coast of Yeosu in October last year, increasing the habitat area of 'Jalpi' by about 20,000 square meters. Jalpi is a seed plant that lives in the sea and serves as a habitat for marine life. In addition, it absorbs carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and can be positively used to respond to climate change and red tide.

LG Chem and Dingscarbon plan to transplant an additional 20,000 shares of Zalfi this year. By 2026, the plan is to create a Jalfi colony the size of 14 football fields.  

 https://n.news.naver.com/article/421/0007489245