From a student’s perspective, tech-savvy South Korea might be just the place to make a promising start as an entrepreneur.But it also has its limits, despite the unprecedented level of support and attention being paid to the startup ecosystem here, according to Korean students who took part in a two-day hackathon in Finland in June, jointly organized by the Seoul-based Korea Startup Forum and Helsinki-based Junction.Three of them sat down with The Korea Herald to talk about what&

Technology July 2, 2019

Aroundus, a South Korean startup operating a platform that matches freelancers with employers, said on July 1 it has raised 882 million won ($761,700) in seed funding from venture capital investors. The funds have come from Shinhan Capital, Shinhan Investment and Korean startup accelerator D.Camp.  Since launching in July 2018, the number of subscribers for Aroundus’ Korean web service surpassed 14,000 last month. “We recognized Aroundus’ capacity to think out of the box t

Technology July 1, 2019

Retired Major League Baseball pitcher Park Chan-ho is hoping to have a good influence on the South Korean startup ecosystem and give back to society as a venture partner of Seoul-based global accelerator SparkLabs.“I’m glad I was given a chance to have a virtuous influence on startups,” Park said in a press conference on Wednesday. “Young entrepreneurs are brimming with passion and dreams. I think I can share with them my experience and know-how (as a former professional

Market June 26, 2019

YEOSU, South Jeolla Province -- For a startup to grow, entrepreneurs should learn how to hire decent staff and fire bad apples, said Han Kim, managing director of Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Altos Ventures on Friday.“When we decide to engage in a follow-up funding round for our portfolio startups, the most critical factor is the entrepreneur’s capability to bring in more talent, along with the courage to sack employees or board members who are unfit for our goals,&

Market June 23, 2019

S.M. Entertainment, South Korea’s largest K-pop powerhouse by market cap, is at a crossroads having to decide on taking action ahead of a deadline issued by an activist investor to merge with another firm owned by founder and Executive Producer Lee Soo-man.S.M. must respond by Thursday to these and other demands by KB Asset Management, which has publicly called on Like Agency -- a private company owned by Lee -- to be merged with the entertainment firm in order to keep intact the corp

Performance June 18, 2019

HO CHI MINH, Vietnam -- In Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, investors have been searching for ways to hedge risks in times of equity market volatility. Last year, the benchmark index on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (Hose) slipped 9.3 percent, while that of the development board fell 10.8 percent.One alternative they found was the derivatives market. Among the many instruments, they pounced on covered warrants -- a publicly traded product that allows investors to make lev

Market June 12, 2019

DAEJEON -- Startups from across South Korea, global startup community leaders and representatives of Daejeon Metropolitan City flocked to Daejeon Convention Center Thursday to mark the end of the three-day Exit Daejeon 2019 event. Located some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, Daejeon served as a venue where local startups were given an opportunity for more international exposure. In the meantime, global startup community organizers like Slush and Junction, as well as early-stage startup investors

Technology May 23, 2019

DAEJEON -- All eyes are on Daejeon, South Korea’s fifth-largest metropolitan city, as it moves to put together leaders of the global startup community through Exit Daejeon 2019.The three-day conference, also known as Global Startup Festival Daejeon, kicked off at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Daejeon Convention Center, hosting some 300 participants in this city some 140 kilometers south of Seoul.“Here in Daejeon, we have a wonderful set of communities already in place with the best universities based in

Technology May 21, 2019

Cyril Ebersweiler, the founder and managing director of hardware accelerator HAX, is out to create a startup-driven hardware renaissance. And in his view, Korea has much potential. “We’ve been quite familiar with the Korean ecosystem and did a few investments there. I think it’s one of the most dynamic ecosystems in the world, and it is doing better than some of its Asia counterparts, while providing a decent market locally for Korean companies as well as quality manufacturing,” said Ebersweiler

Technology May 20, 2019

South Korea’s fifth-largest metropolitan city is poised to host the Global Startup Festival Daejeon 2019 from Tuesday through Thursday as part of its efforts to become a global hub for startup-driven innovation. The three-day Exit Daejeon 2019 event will take place at Daejeon Convention Center. It is co-sponsored by Daejeon Metropolitan City, Herald Corp., Daejeon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and CEO Clubs Korea.The conference is expected to host 300 participants, including SME and S

Technology May 19, 2019

BANGKOK -- When Kulina launched its algorithm-powered online marketplace in Indonesia in 2016, there were high hopes that the startup could address the country‘s chronic last-mile logistics conundrum, while at the same time providing home-cooked meals at an affordable price,However, the startup soon ran into trouble.To turn the business around, Bangkok-born, US-educated Casper Sermsuksan rolled up his sleeves to add diversity to Kulina’s business model. During the process, he managed

Technology May 15, 2019

Two Seoul-based private equity firms have been selected as the most preferred bidders for the respective acquisition of South Korean-Japanese conglomerate Lotte Group’s nonbanking financial arms Lotte Non-Life Insurance and Lotte Card, according to industry sources on May 3. South Korean PEF Hahn & Co. was the surprising pick for Lotte Card, topping other banking group rivals such as Hana Financial Group and Woori Financial Group-MBK Partners consortium. Hahn & Co. has reportedly v

Market May 3, 2019

Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center plans to launch operations in South Korea by the first half of 2020, according to company officals.Despite the rapid growth in Korea’s startup ecosystem, Plug and Play, which is widening its presence in Asia -- with offices in China’s eight cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Tokyo, Jakarta and Singapore -- has not yet started an office here.“(Plug and Play Tech Center) is preparing to launch in Korea between the fo

Technology May 2, 2019

Venture capitalists in the global startup scene have to pay a hefty price -- hundreds of millions of dollars -- to take part in a later-stage round of investment. In South Korea, one of the nations riding the up cycle in the startup ecosystem, domestic venture investment in startups has mainly been concentrated in small- and midsized investment rounds with a risk-averse stance. Startups lose out on early-stage seed funding and larger-scale investment rounds.Now, the Korean government appears to

Market April 24, 2019

Seoul-based media giant CJ ENM reiterated April 17 that it is not taking an acquisition of Dexter Studios into consideration, months after a previous denial in January. “(CJ ENM) is not pursuing an acquisition of Dexter Studios,” CJ ENM said in a regulatory filing April 17. “But (CJ ENM) is taking many options, from financial investment to strategic partnership, into account to strengthen contents production capacity (with Dexter Studios) for TV series and films.”Dexter Studios also said in a fi

Industry April 17, 2019