South Korea is one of Asia's strongest economies and as a result of this, has one of the most mature ecosystems to match. South Korean startups perform well globally and Seoul is ranked as the 24th global ecosystem, highlighting the quality of startups it produces. Startups in South Korea generally have a great level of access to funding and the national government has been taking steps to improve its competitiveness. South Korea already benefits from the presence of major giants like Samsung, LG, Hyundai and many more to drive innovation nationally.
The earliest stages of a startup are the most vital and the point where it is most likely to fail, so having support at this stage is critical. South Korean startups can access mentoring, which is essential for young founders, in combination with smaller scale funding from one of over 140 incubators and accelerators to get ideas off of the ground. Additionally, startups in South Korea also have the ability to secure growth funding, with more than 246 Venture Capital firms operating in South Korea during 2023.
The South Korean government has implemented a range of programs to improve the competitiveness and innovation present in South Korean startups. For instance, it is attempting to drive an influx of foreign entrepreneurs to improve the ecosystem through its Oasis Startup Visa program. Furthermore, it has created a number of government agencies such as the Ministry of Science and IT, KVIC and the Korea Creative Content Agency among others to support growth and innovation in those markets. KVIC is an investment arm of the government that backs new, promising Korean startups.
1. Realry
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: SooChan Lee, Sung Joon Ahn
Realry is a South Korean startup that operates in the fashion and ecommerce markets. It offers you the ability to browse a range of the hottest fashion products currently in Korea. This means you can stay ahead of the latest trends and always look your best with branded products, at reasonable prices. It is aiming to build a platform similar to KAYAK or Skyscanner for the fashion industry.
Realry has shown promising growth in the first four years of its operations and has managed to reach this level without external funding. It is likely that very soon, the founders will aim to secure a round of startup funding so they can facilitate further expansion across South Korea and into new markets in the coming years.
2. Moreh
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 1-10
Founders: Jaejin Lee, Gangwong Jo
Moreh is one of the most exciting AI-based startups in South Korea, as it is building an AI platform that allows you to build and optimize your own AI models in a much more accessible and cost effective manner. This will also allow you to scale up your AI models to go beyond the current small scale deployments of artificial intelligence and give you the capability to unleash this technology on a much wider scale, with huge potential applications.
Investors have clearly been encouraged by the progress in Moreh's R&D for its platform, as in October 2023, it raised $22 Million in a Series B round that was supported by AMD and KT. This funding will be used for a blend of further development of the product, hiring a larger team and facilitating international expansion.
3. Techtaka
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Seongnam, South Korea
Size: 51-100
Founders: Kyung Wook Lee, Soo Young Yang
Techtaka, trading under the brand name Argoport, is a South Korean startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently headquartered in Seongnam. If you're an e-commerce seller then you've likely stressed about how you're going to get your orders to your customers. The Argoport platform allows you to easily manage every aspect of your order fulfilment, allowing you to keep your customers satisfied and remove most of the stress from your shoulders.
Techtaka has developed and impressive tech platform and grown a respectable brand reputation in South Korea. It has leveraged both of these factors to raise $9.5 Million in a February 2024 funding round. This funding will be used to pursue integrations in foreign markets, to allow Koreans to sell their products abroad.
4. Sapeon Korea
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Seongnam, South Korea
Size: 101-250
Founders: Soojung Ryu
Sapeon is a Korean startup that operates in the artificial intelligence market and has experienced dramatic growth in a short space of time. It has developed a world-leading solution for a commercial AI processor that is specifically tailored to your data centre requirements. This means that you will be able to perform the huge scale computations needed to provide AI services, with fewer complications and less expense.
AI startups are generally well-backed, however, the startups that provide the infrastructure for AI use are rightfully seen as massive investment opportunities. As a result of this, it should come as no surprise that Sapeon secured $45 Million in its most recent funding round in August 2023. This funding will be used to further the development of its platform and facilitate international growth.
5. SIMPLE Planet
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Seongsu, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: Dominic Jeong, Dongoh Han
SIMPLE Planet is a South Korean startup that aims to change the way we think about food, by unlocking the potential of other animals and food sources, to address global issues such as food scarcity and insecurity. It is pioneering cellular agriculture in order to produce cell-grown meat alternatives, which are more environmentally sustainable and do not depend on livestock levels to be produced.
Cellular agriculture is very new technology and as a result, research and development into creating a safe and tasty alternative to traditional livestock is expensive. SIMPLE Planet intends to use the $6 Million in funding from its Pre-Series A in February 2024 to further its development and production of its product and to gain more market share.
6. ALVA
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Tanghang, South Korea
Size: 101-250
Founders: Kyongsang-namdo
ALVA is a startup in South Korea that operates in the automotive market. It is a provider of high-quality and incredibly inexpensive electric motorcycles, at reasonable prices. You can actually save up to 80% of your costs compared to using a petrol motorcycle. By connecting your motorcycle with the app, you are also able to enhance the level of control and security you have over your vehicle.
Creating and developing the technology for electric motorcycles and the facilities required to build and store the vehicles requires a lot of capital. To allow for further international expansion and to increase its production capacity, ALVA secured $50 Million in a Series B funding round that took place in August 2023.
7. Rebellions.ai
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 51-100
Founders: Park Sung-hyun, Hyo-Eun Kim
Rebellions.ai is a South Korean startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently headquartered in Seoul. It is pioneering the next generation of fabless AI chips that will allow you to bridge the gaps between your deep learning algorithms and the underlying silicone architectures of your AI infrastructure. You can improve your data centres, which will improve the capability of your AI.
Rebellions has received a huge amount of funding to support the development of its third, most advanced AI chip yet. In January 2024, it raised $124 Million from Samsung and other investors in a Series B round. It also intends to use the funds to drive its hiring efforts, which will enhance development times.
8. Wrtn Technologies
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: Lee Dong Jae, Lee Se Yong, Youngjoon Yoo, Seyoung Lee,Tae Ho Kim
WRTN Technologies is a South Korean startup that aims to help out anyone who has to write as a part of their job. It has developed a Natural Language Processing platform that provides you with an AI-powered writing assistant. It aims to become a mega platform by offering parts of its services for free, in order to generate a huge amount of market share in a short space of time.
As a result of the development required for its AI technology and the cost of offering its services for free, WRTN has gone through two rounds of startup funding. The most recent of these took place in June 2023 and it raised a total of $11.8 Million to drive its product development and growth.
9. AUTOCRYPT
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 101-250
Founders: Daniel ES Kim
AUTOCRYPT is a startup in Korea that operates in the cybersecurity market, specifically for the automotive industry. The self-driving car revolution is taking the world by storm, however, there are risks of cyberattacks on such vehicles. The consequences of these attacks can be severe and as a result, a security platform to protect such vehicles is needed. It utilises its decades of industry experience in cybersecurity and is constantly updating its services to the latest threats.
Security for autonomous vehicles is a rapidly growing market, with intense capital requirements. AUTOCRYPT is ahead of the curve and has been backed by Hyundai and other investors, with its most recent funding round taking place in May 2022 netting it $25.5 Million to further develop its security solutions.
10. Levit
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: Kang, Sangwoo Park, Hyunjik Lee
Levit is a South Korean startup that operates an app called Alwayz. The app itself allows you to go online and buy a range of food and clothing for a low price, with free delivery. This makes it the perfect app for students and other people who may currently be squeezed for cash. The design of the app is also intended to make the experience of shopping much more enjoyable overall, as opposed to having it be a slog.
Levit has had to compete with a range of international and local competition to thrive and survive, but it has differentiated itself with the gamification and rewards it offers for participating in its platforms. Levit has also recently poised itself for further expansion with its $46 Million funding round which took place in June 2023.
11. Bemyfriends
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 51-100
Founders: Wooseok Seo, Sanghoon Bae, JunKi Kim
Bemyfriends is a startup in South Korea that offers a SaaS platform that allows you to build better relationships and connections with your fans and customers on a wider scale. This allows you to create your own hub for your fans, where you can sell your merchandise and a range of other items such as event tickets, without the huge associated costs. It also handles a large portion of the fulfilment and order taking aspects for you, saving you a huge amount of time.
In order to develop its platform and market it to the largest names in sports, music and content creation, Bemyfriends has had to use a large amount of money. It has also been getting more rapid international expansion overall, which requires funding. In its most recent round, a Series A in March 2023, it raised $22.3 Million.
12. BOS Semiconductors
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Seongnam, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: Park Jae-hong
BOS Semiconductors is a startup in South Korea that was founded in 2022 and is currently headquartered in Seongnam. It is a fabless startup that creates and develops System-on-Chips. These chips are helping to improve the viability and commercialization of autonomous vehicles. It is currently supporting some of the world's leading automotive companies with their chip needs.
Hyundai and Kia have contributed to the research and development of BOS Semiconductors by providing funding through their shared investment fund. This funding was worth $1.5 Million and has also allowed BOS Semiconductors to strategically consult with two of the biggest names in the automotive industry, providing it with resources and connections that are much needed.
13. Spotlite
Year Founded: 2023
HQ: Seoul, Korea
Size: 1-10
Founders: Hannah Choi, Benjamin Hori
Spotlite is a startup in South Korea that provides a professional platform for models to connect with professional photographers. This helps models to gain more exposure to improve their careers and also helps the photographers to find models that best suit the aesthetic of the shoot they are trying to do. All of the back end work is done by the platform, making connecting with the model or photographer you desire incredibly easy.
Spotlite is targeting increased growth now that it has developed its platform and beginning to make a name for itself. As a result of this, it has completed a Seed Funding round worth over $400,000 in February 2024. This investment will allow it to double down on user acquisition, which will allow it to sustain long-term growth.
14. Cloud Hospital
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Seocho, South Korea
Size: 51-100
Founders: Nazarov Suleyman
Cloud Hospital is a South Korean startup that operates in the healthcare technology market. It provides you with an online platform, that takes a log of your specific medical needs and based on this information, will connect you with and recommend to you a range of medical providers to choose from, all across the world. This means that you can always get access to specialist support for your health needs.
Cloud Hospital's largest expenses are the development of its technology platform, hiring and connecting with the medical professionals that make it possible for it to operate. It has been aiming to increase its users numbers, currently standing at over 400,000 and its most recent funding round of $1.5 Million raised in April 2023 has been used to facilitate further user growth.
15. Makina Rocks
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 51-100
Founders: Andre S. Yoon
Makina Rocks is a South Korean startup that was founded in 2017 and is currently headquartered in Seoul. It aims to accelerate the transition of industrial businesses into using artificial intelligence, by providing the capability to have robots complete parts of production for you, have anomaly detection and analytics available to you, giving you a more in-depth insight into your operations.
Makina Rocks has experienced great growth since it was founded and has received investment and support from some of the biggest names in Korea, such as LG and Hyundai, with its most recent round in July 2020 netting it $10 Million. This funding has been used since then to facilitate growth and hiring, in addition to developing its underlying technology offering.
16. Furiosa AI
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 101-250
Founders: June Paik
Furiosa AI is one of South Korea's premier AI startups and has continued its rapid upward trajectory since 2017. Its AI technology allows you to accelerate the operations of your data centres, allowing for improved efficiency and reduced costs over time when you're utilising AI in your business. Another factor is energy efficiency, with AI processing consuming a lot of resources. Using Furiosa AI, you will use significantly less power in your operations, further cutting your costs.
Furiosa has grown rapidly since it was founded and it has made effective use of the funding from its most recent investment round in June 2021. During this round, it raised $72.28 Million in a Series B. Since then, it has not required additional funding and has utilised the investment in order to accelerate its hiring of new talent and the increased development of its underlying technology.
17. Panmnesia
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Seongam, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: Myoungsoo Jung
Panmnesia is a South Korean startup that was founded in 2022 and is currently headquartered in Seongnam. It operates in the chip manufacturing market and creates chip solutions that limit memory resources and makes all of your systems more shareable across systems and more intelligent. This allows you to eliminate data movement and improve your memory management.
Panmnesia is targeting accelerated growth and development of its products in the near future, which is why in September 2023, it made the decision to raise $12.5 Million. This placed the company's valuation at more than $81 Million, a huge leap in the space of less than two years.
18. Airs Medical
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Doksansadong, South Korea
Size: 51-100
Founders: Lee Hye-seong
Airs Medical is a startup in South Korea that operates in the medical technology market and is making it easier for patients to get scans for a range of potential tests and have the results delivered to them significantly faster. Additionally, it improves the success of venipuncture, with a 98% vein recognition rate, which is vastly superior to the capability of what a human can do with the naked eye. It is currently being used by medical professionals spanning every continent.
In order to develop the underlying technology to conduct tissue scans and expand across the world in the way it has, Airs Medical has required significant startup funding. For instance, in its most recent funding round during August 2022, it raised a total of $20 Million to advance its technology and acquire clients globally.
19. Upstage AI
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Yongin, South Korea
Size: 101-250
Founders: Hwalsuk Lee, Lucy Park, Sung Kim
Upstage AI is a South Korean startup that was founded in 2020 and is at the forefront of the artificial intelligence market. The company is aiming to facilitate the AI revolution by providing AI solutions that allow you to generate your models without having to complete your model training from scratch and it also carries a Document AI that rapidly accelerates your document management processes. It is aiming to build AI functions to support every core aspect of your business.
In order to develop AI platforms for every core aspect of a business, such as Admin, marketing, finance and more, it requires a huge amount of funding to facilitate research, development and hiring the required talent. As a result of this, Upstage AI has raised a huge amount of funding. Its latest funding round is also poised to further its product development and international growth with $19 Million raised in a Series B during January 2024.
20. Four Pillars
Year Founded: 2023
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 1-10
Founders: Namwoong Kim
Four Pillars is a startup in South Korea that was founded in 2023 and is headquartered in Seoul. It operates in the Web 3.0 and Blockchain markets and its multifaceted approach aims to connect businesses that want to get involved in Web 3.0 with a range of high-quality projects. It aims to create the premier blockchain research platform to support more traditional businesses with their forays into the blockchain world.
In order to accelerate its product development and hire the talent needed to grow to the next level, Four Pillars recently completed a startup funding round in January 2024, with the round being worth $500,000. The investment was made by Kakao Ventures, Hashed and Bass Investment.
21. AI Spera
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seongdam, South Korea
Size: 11-50
Founders: Byungtak Kang, Huy Kang Kim
AI Spera is a startup in South Korea that was founded in 2017 and operates in the cybersecurity market. As the name suggests, its cybersecurity services are enhanced by AI and gives you real-time intelligence on your network, any potential vulnerabilities and attacks. This ensures you always know exactly what is going on and what steps you need to take in order to improve your cyber security.
Developing a cybersecurity platform requires a large amount of ongoing expense in terms of manpower costs and the costs of adapting to the new threats that appear every single day. As a result of this, AI Spera took part in a round of startup funding during March 2023, which secured it $10 Million to fund its operations and the further development of its underlying security infrastructure.
FAQs
What Are The Strongest Startup Industries In South Korea?
The strongest startup industries in South Korea are AI, Hardware & IoT, Ecommerce and Communications.
What Is The Average Investment In The Startup Industry In South Korea?
South Korean startups raised $1.9 Billion in 2023, between 15,000 startups means that the average Korean startup raised around $125,000.
How Many Startups Are There In South Korea?
It is currently estimated that there are more than 15,000 tech startups in South Korea.
