15 Korean tech startups had a successful round of pitching at the first Demo Day at the fifth edition of TIPS & beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase Silicon Valley co-hosted with Korea Business Angels Association and Cuvee April on Oct. 12. Venture Capitalists and Investors from top-tier global companies participated in the Demo Day hosted at O’Melveny & Myers LLP office in San Francisco.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP is a law firm that works with entrepreneurs and investors to support the emergence of innovative companies. The global law firm has offices in 18 locations worldwide. The firm has a talented team of more than 750 lawyers who help clients grow, protect their assets, and navigate the challenges of complex law and regulation. 

The TIPS & beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase Silicon Valley is a program held to showcase the potential of the Korean startup ecosystem to leading VC firms and accelerators in Silicon Valley and support startups to enter the global market. TIPSX beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase Silicon Valley was held from October 11, 2022, to October 14, 2022, in San Francisco and Palo Alto. 

This year’s program included mentoring sessions by leading VCs, interactions with successful startup founders, networking opportunities, one-on-one meetings and final pitching round demo days with potential investors and funders. The 15 Korean startup teams that presented their services were Gadget Korea, Blinkers, TissenBioFarm, Gomi Corporation, Noutecompany, inDJ, Ad-Shield, Aurum Care Management, Kinava, LooKo, MoveAWheel, PMX, PuzzleData, Testbank, and Tart.  

The prominent VCs and investors that attended the first Demo day event on October 12th included: 

Taylor Oliver, Venture Partner, Tenacity Venture Capital: Tenacity Venture Capital backs the best pre-Series A startup founders globally. The majority of their LPs are founders and key executives of outstanding companies. Taylor Oliver has been a partner with Tenacity Venture Capital since 2021. He has worked with companies like Plug and Play Tech Center and Navitas Capital.

James Walker, Associate, Draper Associates:  Draper Associates is a leader in early-stage venture capital, having funded companies including Hotmail, Skype, Baidu, Tesla, SpaceX, Twitch, Cruise, Carta, Webflow, Robinhood, and Coinbase. Draper Associates provides capital to technology companies of all sizes and all geographies. James Walker has been with the company as Associate Counsel and Investments for over two years. He worked earlier with Brex and New York Angels.

Klaus Wehage, CEO, 10X Innovation Lab: 10X Innovation Lab is a crossborder innovation agency offering tailored entrepreneurial, education and innovations programs for Governments, Corporates, and Entrepreneurs. Klaus has worked with 35+ markets and over 500+ founders, government officials and corporate business leaders. He now actively advises the Taiwanese and Japanese governments on ecosystem building and economic development.

Weichang Ge, Senior Analyst, SOSV:  SOSV is a global, multi-stage venture capital firm that operates early-stage startup development programs. It supports 1000+ startups operating in 60 countries. Weichang Ge is a senior analyst for SOSV’s HAX program and works directly with the HAX General Partner Cyril Ebersweiler in San Francisco. Weichang has worked in various venture capital firms across the US and China. 

Jehong Park, Managing Partner, Atlas Pacific Capital: Atlas Pacific Capital is a global multi-asset investment venture focused on growth-stage technology investing. Jehong is the founder and managing partner at the firm and takes care of sourcing and consummating investments. 

Amrit Saxena, Founder & CEO, SaxeCap: SaxeCap is an AI transformation and PE investment firm that conducts AI-levered buyouts and transforms enterprises with AI & automation technology. Amrit has successfully founded & sold two AI companies (Stella.ai and Fancy That) and is an active angel investor in data, AI, web3, and enterprise software companies in Silicon Valley, investing in 200+ early-stage technology companies (including several unicorns and companies that have gone public), private businesses, and PE/VC funds. 

Robert “Bobby” Jones, Vice President, US Capital Global: Robert Jones has more than 25 years of combined experience as a business coach and expert in the financial services industry. He is currently providing SMB C-level executives and business owners of private and public companies with financing in debt/equity, line of credit, loans, stock listing, license agreements, equipment leasing, and financial transactions. 

Micheal Jeon, Partner, Solasta Ventures:  Solasta Ventures, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aju IB Investment, a leading South Korean venture capital firm. Michael Jeon has over 18 years of diverse experience across venture capital, startup operations and large corporate roles. Michael joined AJU IB Investment in 2019 as a partner to lead the firm’s digital investments in Silicon Valley. 

Jun Young Yang, Manager, POSCO International: POSCO International Corporation is South Korea’s largest trading company and a subsidiary of POSCO. Jun Young Yan is based in San Francisco and set up the investment plan for POSCO International in startups with interests in agritech, B2B Trading platforms, Overseas Blockchain Payment, and ESG.

The 15 startups presented their services and products to the VCs and answered their questions regarding business models, revenue, marketing, expansion, regulations, etc. TissonFarm, the food tech startup, was asked about partnerships, regulatory hurdles, and if they are venturing into ‘Halal’ food with their cultured meat production. Health tech startups  Aurum Care Management and PMX were posed with questions from the VCs regarding conflict of interest issues with pharmaceuticals and critical learnings from pilot projects, respectively. 

MoveAWheel, a startup that has developed AI sensors for detecting road hurdles like Black Ice, were asked about their target sales intention: whether they will sell data or sensors. Ad blocker removing technology developer Ad-Shield had to talk about revenue and their expansion plans to countries beyond Korea. The investors asked Kinava, a green tech startup, about the expectations of the ROI (return on investment) and if they were seeking any significant partnerships. 

Read more about the program, 

• TIPSX beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase 2022 participants have in-depth Q&A with SOSV’s Weichang Ge
• TIPSX beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase 2022 participants get valuable lessons from AMINO Capital’s Dr. Sue Xu 
• TIPSX beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase 2022 Silicon Valley kicks off with mentoring session at Perkins Coie San Francisco
• TIPSX beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase 2022 Silicon Valley to be held on October 11-14