Don’t Miss Out On The Startup Funding: the First Week Of 2021

by Philip Lee

Updated March 24, 2024

Don’t Miss Out On The Startup Funding: the First Week Of 2021 — Photo by Markus Winkler / Unsplash

Here is the investment news for Korean startups from 4th January 2021 to 10th January 2021. Let’s move on.

It is now the beginning of the year. Twenty-four startups secured funding this week, totaling KRW 262.7 billion (US$240 million).

Kakao Enterprises secured its Series A funding with KRW 100 billion (US$ 92 million) from KDB. Kakao Enterprise’s attracted investment broke the KDB Bank’s single investment amount record since it was established.

The post-money value of Kakao Enterprise is KRW 1.1 trillion (US$ 1 billion).

The business model of Kakao Enterprise is enterprise SW. Its solution – similar to Slack – is in the area of Communication SaaS service.

Jiran Comms attracted 1/100 of the investment amount compared with Kakao Enterprise this week.

1. Pre-IPO, Series D, and Series C Funding

Startup	Amount	Business Model	Investor(s)
SAMG Animation (Pre-IPO)	KRW 16B (US$ 15M)	Animation production studio	NH Investment & Securities Sangsang Ventures GAIA Venture Partners Capital One History Investment Management
4D Replay (D)	KRW 16B (US$ 15M)	Image and video processing for sports content analysis	UBIQUOSS Investment J Tsai Sports Enterprises
Intocell (C)	KRW 34B (US$ 31M)	Development of targeted anticancer drugs	Atinum Investment Winvest Venture Capital K Net Venture Capital Seoul Investment Partners ST Capital Friend Investment Partners DA Value Investment Orbit Partners Brave New
Dable (C)	KRW 14B (US$ 13M)	Media Curation Platform	KB Investment SV Investment K2 Investment Partners Kakao Ventures

2. Series B Funding

Startup	Amount	Business Model	Investor(s)
Greenlabs	KRW20B (US$ 18M)	Agritech Startup	Magna Investment Hashed Main Street Investment
AKA Intelligence	KRW19B (US$ 17M)	AI-based communication Robotics	EOGF Partners QUAD Investment Management Sangbum KIM
D.Code	KRW10B (US$ 9M)	Personalized luxury goods recommendation eCommerce	Neoplux SV Investment Yuanta Securities KT Investment Mirae Asset Ventures
Tasty9	KRW7B (US$6.4M)	Home Meal Replacement manufacturer	LB Investment SV Investment
Miride	KRW3B (US$2.7M)	Design Platform	G N Tec Venture Capital

3. Series A funding

Startup	Amount	Business Model	Investor(s)
Kakao Enterprise	KRW100B (US$ 90M)	Communication Tool and Cloud Service.	KDB Bank.
Superb AI	KRW11B (US$10M)	Data processing for AI and Big Data Analysis	Atinum Investment Premier Partners Stonebridge Ventures
Wealthguide	KRW3.1B (US$2.6M)	Asset management service	KB Investment SNU Tech Holdings KTB Securities P&P Investment
PPLINK	KRW2.1B (US$1.9M)	On-demand Online communication SW	Strong Ventures Behigh Investment Klim Ventures
Nine Corporation	KRW2.1B (US$1.9M)	Game engine based on Blockchain	Naver D2SF Honest Ventures We Ventures Block Crafters
Sendy	KRW 1B (US$ o.9M)	Logistics Brokerage Service	Korea Venture Investment Behigh Investment
Jiran Comms	KRW 1B (US$ o.9M)	Enterprise Communication SW	Laguna Investment
Rideflux	N/A	Autonomous Driving SW	Socar

4. Pre-A Series Funding

Startup	Amount	Business Model	Investor(s)
Plating	KRW 1.3B (US$ 1.2M)	Food and Catering delivery Service	Strong Ventures SBA
Gatda	KRW 1B (US$ 0.9M)	Mobile Based Garbage Processing Service	Shinhan Capital Shinhan Investment Impact Square

5. Seed Funding

Startup	Amount	Business Model	Investor(s)
SEIin	KRW100M (US$ 90k)	Door control system based on robotics	Company A
KDAC	N/A	Asset management based on Blockchain	Shinhan Bank
HD Junction	N/A	EMR System and Management	Naver D2SF
Awake Corporation	N/A	Social Media Analysis Chatbot	Buzzvil
Kaier	N/A	Deep-tech AI	Futureplay