fintech startups

Mergers & Acquisitions Soon for sale: Altos Ventures-backed Cafe Knotted operator

Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures-backed Good Food For Good (GFFG), operator of South Korea’s popular dessert cafe, Cafe Knotted, will likel...

Korean games NCSOFT invests in US game startup emptyvessel

NCSOFT Corp. has made an equity investment in emptyvessel, a US indie games studio, as part of efforts to expand into the first-person shooter genre...

Beauty & Cosmetics Packaging rides K-beauty wave: Shares of cosmetics container makers soar

As South Korea’s independent beauty brands continue to take the global stage by storm, investors are now looking beyond the creams and serums ...

Games S.Korea’s Krafton to nurture 6 new game studios in India

Krafton Inc., the publisher of global mega-hit “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (PUBG), has selected six new Indian game studios to...

Artificial intelligence KT rolls out Thai-tailored large language model

South Korean telecom service provider KT Corp. has built a large language model (LLM) platform tailored for the Thai market in collaboration with Ja...

Beauty & Cosmetics Korea launches $27 mn fund to invest in K-beauty startups

South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Thursday announced the launch of a 40 billion won ($27 million) fund to invest in Korean beauty...

Venture capital South Korean VCs back US humanoid robot developer Apptronik

South Korean venture capital firms invested undisclosed tens of billions of won, equivalent to tens of millions of dollars, in US humanoid-developin...

Games Krafton invests in 10 overseas game startups in 2024

Krafton Inc. invested in 10 overseas game developers in 2024 in search of the next big franchise intellectual property (IP) following its mega-hit t...

Korean startups Hyundai Motor spins off 4 in-house startups in energy, AI, mobility

South Korea’s auto behemoth Hyundai Motor Group has spun off its four in-house startups with innovative technologies in mobility, automation a...

Korean startups South Korea loses tech startups at rapid clip amid dwindling funding

Concerns are growing that the tech startup ecosystem in South Korea, home to global tech household name Samsung Electronics Co., would be trapped in...

Electronics LG Electronics deepens ties with US startup Apex.AI

LG Electronics Inc. has invested in Apex.AI, a US-based startup developing safety-certified software designed to accelerate the transition of softwa...

Mergers & Acquisitions Meta in talks to acquire Korean fabless chip startup FuriosaAI: Forbes

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent of Facebook and Instagram, is in talks to acquire Seoul-based AI chip startup FurisosaAI Inc. and the discussion cou...

Korean startups Funding to Korean tech startups at 7-year low; seed funding soars

New funding to South Korean tech startups dropped to its lowest level in seven years in 2024. But seed funding soared 142% led by semiconductor, hea...

IPOs Korean B2B fintech firm Dozn plans Kosdaq IPO for $202.5 mn market cap

South Korea’s business-to-business fintech service provider Dozn is planning an initial public offering on the Kosdaq in February for an estim...

Korean startups AI agent Gentoo poised to revolutionize online shopping

South Korean artificial intelligence startup Waddle Corp. is gearing up to reshape the online retail industry with artificial intelligence-powered i...

Korean startups Allsale, K-beauty's leading ambassador to the US

Allsale Corporation, a South Korean startup operating an influencer marketing platform, is in talks with investors to further support Korean cosmeti...

Artificial intelligence Naver D2SF invests in N.American AI startup

South Korea's online giant Naver Corp.'s startup nurturing organization D2SF (D2 Startup Factory) invested in North American AI ad tech startup Remb...

Batteries LG Energy to supply batteries to US solar EV startup Aptera for 7 years

LG Energy Solution Ltd., the world’s third-largest battery maker, agreed to supply cylindrical products to Aptera Motors Corp., a US solar ele...

Regulations Korea seeks to ease fintech ownership, crypto regulations

South Korea’s top financial regulator has proposed loosening restrictions on financial holding companies’ ownership of fintech platforms...

Korean startups Hyundai Motor to introduce 10 startups in robotics, AI at CES 2025 

Hyundai Motor Group, which has been promoting open innovation through generous investment in startups with promising technologies, will lead 10 cher...

Korean startups Imagoworks raises $15.6 mn in Series C funding

Imagoworks, South Korea's AI-based digital dental service startup, said on Tuesday it raised 23 billion won ($15.6 million) in Series C funding.Foun...

Upcoming IPOs Rosy outlook for South Korean fintech IPOs in 2025

The South Korean fintech industry, which bloomed a decade ago, is poised to take the next step for the coming 10 years after prominent players began...

Korean startups Korean startup M&As halve in 2024 with smaller deals

Mergers and acquisitions of South Korean startups halved in value in 2024 as conglomerates and Big Tech firms such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. sn...

Korean startups Catchtable to offer restaurant reservation service in Japan

Wad Corp., the developer and operator of South Korea’s most popular restaurant reservation app Catchtable, launched the beta service for off...

Korean startups TALOS dives deeper into brain aneurysm icebergs

 A single neurosurgeon dedicates his or her entire professional career to performing surgeries on an average of fewer than 10,000 patients with...

Artificial intelligence SK Telecom invests $3 mn in AI-powered video analysis startup Twelve Labs

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said on Friday it will invest $3 million in Twelve Labs Inc., a Korean AI-powered video analys...

Korean startups NXN Labs aims to be Adobe of image generation AI

South Korean tech giant Naver Corp.-backed NXN Labs Inc., the developer of an artificial intelligence-powered image generation program, aspires to b...

Korean startups Language learning app Speakeasy joins ranks of unicorn startups

Speakeasy Labs Inc., a South Korea-focused language learning app operator, has joined the ranks of unicorn startups after raising $78 million at a v...

Banking & Finance Hanwha's financial companies open AI center in San Franciso

South Korea’s seventh-largest conglomerate’s financial companies have opened a joint artificial intelligence center in San Francisco, a ...

Korean startups Asan Nanum to offer Silicon Valley residence to Korean startups

The Asan Nanum Foundation, a South Korean startup accelerator program operator, said on Thursday it will open a residency space for Korean venture f...