pre-unicorn

Private equity EQT set to invest in KKR-backed fashion unicorn Musinsa

EQT, Europe's largest private equity firm, is set to invest 20 billion to 30 billion won ($14 million-$21 million) in Musinsa, South Korea’s f...

Economy S.Korea’s default risk dips below pre-martial law levels

South Korea’s financial market has stabilized with a sharp fall in the country’s default risk and some recovery of its currency value ag...

Automobiles Kia starts to produce Syros SUV in India

Kia Corp. started mass production of the Syros, a versatile sports utility vehicle (SUV) specifically designed to meet the needs of customers in I...

Mergers & Acquisitions Yanolja launches NOL Universe after merging OTA platforms

SoftBank-backed Yanolja Co., South Korea’s top travel and accommodation booking platform operator, on Friday introduced a new platform called ...

Business & Politics Ruthless Politics of South Korea Is Rooted in Cold-War History

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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...

Mergers & Acquisitions Rebellions · Sapeon Korea merger, the first domestic AI chip unicorn

Rebellions Inc., a South Korean artificial intelligence chip design startup, officially merged with Sapeon Korea to form the first domestic AI chi...

E-commerce China’s Alibaba acquires 5% of Ably in 1st equity investment in Korean firm

Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has invested 100 billion won ($71.4 million) in South Korea’s top women’s cloth...

IPOs LS Group’s US magnet wire unit to go public with $1.4 bn value

The US magnet wire unit of South Korea’s leading electric power, materials and energy conglomerate LS Group is seeking an initial public offer...

Energy DS Dansuk wins $750 mn SAF material order from Phillips 66

South Korea's DS Dansuk Co., which operates bioenergy, battery, and plastic recycling businesses, said on Monday it signed a 1 trillion won ($750 mi...

Logistics CJ Logistics, Baropharm to cooperate on pharmaceutical logistics

South Korea's CJ Logistics said on Monday it signed a strategic partnership and exclusive pharmaceutical logistics contract with Baropharm, an integ...

Korean startups South Korea’s next AI unicorns stand out at KPAS 2024

South Korea’s major telecom company KT Corp. and the country’s leading financial newspaper The Korea Economic Daily have teamed up to sc...

Mergers & Acquisitions Acquisition loan rates dip to pre-pandemic levels in S.Korea

Interest rates on acquisition financing in South Korea are set to stabilize at the 5% level, rates last seen before COVID-19 swept the world, height...

Korean games NCSOFT teams up with Vietnamese unicorn VGN to tap SE Asian market

South Korea’s gaming behemoth NCSOFT Corp. has set up a joint venture with Vietnamese tech unicorn VNG Corp. to tap into Southeast Asia starti...

Electronics Samsung Galaxy Z foldable's pre-sales soars 40% rise in India

Samsung Electronics Co.'s latest foldable phones showed strong sales potential in India, the world's most populous country, with pre-sales for the G...

Korean startups PhyxUp closes in on pre-seed round with US advance

PhyxUp Health Inc., an early stage South Korean digital healthcare startup, will soon close a pre-seed funding round, said its founder and chief, wh...

Travel & Leisure S.Korea sees foreign visitors 95% of pre-pandemic

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced on Friday that the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea in May was 1.42 million, an increa...

Retail Duty-free stores: Golden goose gone for Korean retailers

South Korea welcomed a record-high number of post-pandemic foreign tourist arrivals for a single quarter in the first three months of this year, but...

Mergers & Acquisitions Rebellions-Sapeon Korea merger to challenge Nvidia’s AI chip dominance

Rebellions Inc., a South Korean artificial intelligence chip design startup, is merging with its crosstown rival Sapeon Korea Inc., an AI chip firm ...

Korean startups Korean AI startups yet to join global unicorn club

The number of artificial intelligence unicorns has been on the rise thanks to the AI boom, but none of these South Korean AI startups have yet to jo...

IPOs World’s No.1 magnet wire maker SPSX mulls Korean IPO

Superior Essex Inc. (SPSX), the world’s top magnet wire provider under South Korea’s LS Group, is mulling an initial public offering in ...

Venture capital VC firm DSC Investment forms Korea's largest secondary fund

South Korean asset manager DSC Investment has formed the country’s largest-ever fund for venture capital secondaries to explore opportunities ...

Entertainment Korean theme parks recover to near pre-pandemic levels

Everland and Lotte World, South Korea’s two largest theme parks, posted their highest-ever profits in 2023, recovering from the COVID-19 pande...

Korean startups Korean unicorns slow growth to focus on profits

South Korean unicorns, or startups valued at $1 billion or more, are slowing the pace of growth to shore up their bottom lines as they revive l...

Korean startups Korean unicorns’ failed global expedition causes growth concern   

Woowa Brothers Corp. and Viva Republica Inc., South Korea’s most valuable unicorns, have pulled the plug on some of their overseas businesses ...

Korean games Netmarble Arthdal Chronicles pre-registration surpasses 1 mn

South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp. said on Tuesday that the pre-registration of its upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing ga...

Robotics CJ Freshway, Hanwha Robotics to team up for food robots

South Korea's CJ Freshway Corp. and Hanwha Robotics will jointly develop food robots. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding ...

Korean startups Venture downturn keeps Korean unicorns from acquisitions

South Korean unicorns, or private companies worth $1 billion or more, are increasingly refraining from taking over smaller startups for business exp...

Retail S.Korea’s duty-free industry going downhill

The South Korean travel retail industry, once considered the country’s golden goose, is forced to streamline operations given no signs of a dr...

Travel & Leisure Number of foreign tourists visiting Korea surpasses 11 million in 2023

The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea last year exceeded 11 million, reaching 63% of the pre-COVID level, with over 1 million arrivals month...