Korean startups and startup founders are shining globally. In the Forbes ‘Under 30’ list 17 startup founders get place and domestic startups win accolades at the US Edison Awards. Venture Capitalists are placing high-bets on Korea’s startup ecosystem and South Korean government to infuse more funds for supporting startups. And if you are a global startup then don’t forget to apply for the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2021, Korea’s biggest inbound accelerator program.
17 Korean startup founders named Forbes’ young innovators
Source: The Korea Herald
Founders and leaders of 17 rising startups in South Korea were picked as young innovator by the Forbes in a survey that listed 300 successful entrepreneurs under age 30, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Wednesday.
The list of startups includes SelectStar, Codeit, Carpenstreet, Sleek, TableManager, Devotionfoods, Happy Moonday, Glorang, The Carbon Studio, ReDwit, Classum, Juni Essentials, Neubility and Sentbe. SelectStar, which provide AI-backed data collection and annotation service, was featured honorees in the enterprise technology sector.
3 domestic startups won a silver award at the US Edison Awards
Source: Platum
Three domestic startups were awarded at the’Edison Awards’ in the United States. On the 22nd April (local time), the Gyeonggi Innovation Center held three saga at the Edison Awards, the most prestigious invention awards ceremony in the United States. It was announced on the 23rd that it was awarded.
The Edison Awards is an awards ceremony that is recognized for fairness as a selection process in which 3,000 experts in each industry conduct the screening over about 7 months. ‘Steve Jobs (2012, Apple)’,’Elon Musk (2014, Tesla, SpaceX)’, and’Marilyn Hewson (2018, Lockheed Martin)’ have been awarded.
‘Deep Bio’, an AI-based cancer diagnosis solution company, won a silver award in the field of cell research and disease prevention.’Coconut Silo’, a smart logistics solution company, is in the field of logistics tracking and smart solutions, and’AkaAI’, a smart AI technology and social robot company. (CEO Raymond Jung)’ each won a bronze statue in the field of social tools for disability and disease.
VC firms queue up for IPOs as startup valuations soar
Source: The Korea Economic Daily
A slew of South Korean venture capital firms is knocking on the doors of the domestic stock market, after hitting the jackpot from startup investments amid the unprecedented IPO boom.
With a string of Korean ventures, including Krafton Inc. behind the hit game title PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), queuing up for initial public offerings this year, their early investors or VCs seem convinced that the time is ripe to revisit their IPO plans shelved for the past couple of years. A capital increase from an IPO is expected to fund VC firms’ regional expansion into Southeast Asia and India.
S. Korea to invest 105 bln won in promising digital New Deal companies
Source: Yonhap Agency
South Korea said Wednesday it will invest 105 billion won (US$94 million) this year to support budding companies in promising tech sectors, such as 5G networks and artificial intelligence, as part of the country’s digital New Deal initiative.
Last year, South Korea unveiled the digital New Deal program, which aims to invest 58.2 trillion won to develop key future technologies from smart factories to big data solutions and create 900,000 jobs by 2025.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association to further support tech startups and small companies under the digital New Deal program through investment funds.
by 
