5 Independent Korean Beauty Brands to Watch Out For

B-Lab Korea

B-Lab Korea is a Korean skincare brand with a focus on creating high-quality products using natural ingredients: all for the sake of a better environment. Their flagship range is their “I AM SORRY JUST CLEANSING” line which features a wide range of cleansing products, including peeling gel, cleansing water, and oil cleansers, with the range’s tagline emblazoned on it.

All their products come in chic and minimalist looking black and white packaging. Check out their Instagram to lust over the cleansers and start making your wish list.

B-LAB(@b_lab_korea)님의 공유 게시물님, 2018 6월 27 2:55오전 PDT

Where to Buy B-Lab Korea Products in Korea

Their products are available to order from their website.

Duft and Doft

Duft and Doft are bringing a scent of Scandinavia to Korea with their Nordic inspired fragrance range. The company creates pampering products using only natural ingredients and uses no parabens, mineral oils, talc, synthetic dyes, benzophenones or other potentially harmful chemicals. Many beauty bloggers are dubbing Duft and Doft the #1 beauty brand that they want to keep to themselves.

But, the secret’s out!

더프트앤도프트 DUFT&DOFT(@duftndoft)님의 공유 게시물님, 2018 6월 26 3:49오후 PDT

Where to Buy Duft and Doft Products in Korea

As well as being available online and in Olive Young stores, Duft and Duft also have a variety of physical locations around Korea. Find out where, here.

Thank you Farmer

Thank you Farmer is an innovative cosmetic brand that produces high-performance products using all-natural and cruelty-free ingredients. Their Miracle Age Line has been praised by Media giants, such as Vogue and Allure. Their range of products feature skincare, BB creams, and sun protection essentials.

땡큐파머 THANK YOU FARMER(@thankyoufarmer)님의 공유 게시물님, 2018 3월 12 2:23오전 PDT

Where to Buy Thank you Farmer Products in Korea

This independent Korean Beauty Brands products can be bought on their website, as well as at several physical locations around Korea. Find out where, here!

Oka Beauty

Oka is a fun and exciting independent Korean cosmetics company. They create gorgeous skincare and beauty products that use advanced ingredients for the highest level of care. However, our favorite thing about Oka is the fun packaging of their products with bright pop colors and caricature designs. They are best known for their lipsticks, lip glosses and facemasks.

OKA(@oka_beauty)님의 공유 게시물님, 2018 4월 20 9:01오전 PDT

Where to Buy Oka Beauty Products in Korea

Oka Beauty products are available online.

Wonjin Effect

Wonjin Effect combines nature and technology to make the most effective skincare products. Their treatments have been developed by some of Korea’s leading dermatologists for the ultimate in luxury beauty. Their flagship products are their advanced face masks however, their face creams and ampoules are also popular.

원진이펙트(@wonjineffect)님의 공유 게시물님, 2017 11월 7 5:19오후 PST

Where to Buy Wonjin Effect Beauty Products in Korea

Wonjin Effect skincare products can be purchased on their website.

What’s your Favorite Independent Korean Beauty Brand?

So now that we’ve told you our 5 favorite independent Korean beauty brands, its time for you to spill your secrets? What’s your go-to k-beauty product that no one has heard of? Leave us a comment and let us know in the comments!

The post Top 5 Independent Korean Beauty Brands to Watch out For! appeared first on Startup Radar.

How to Make your Startup Stand Out in Korea

Have a Story to Tell

There are many different reasons why customers decide to buy from startups instead of the brands they’ve grown up loyal to.

However, the most compelling reason of all is the connection that startups can make with customers through their story.

When you’re presenting your business to the world, whether that be to your customers or potential investors, you need to take the facts and craft them into a story. Your brand’s story should be captivating, clever and demand an emotional response from your audience.

Maybe there’s an intriguing tale behind your business idea? Or maybe you have a unique supply chain that gives back to vulnerable groups.

Whatever it is, make sure you paint it with color when you present it to your audience.

Know What Makes You Stand Out

Standing out is all about having a unique selling point. What’s yours? To survive in the business world, you must have something that makes you different and memorable. And, when you work out what that is, you need to reiterate it over and over and over again.

Startups in Korea should always remember that entrepreneurship isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about taking the wheel and making it better. Even if you just make one small change to an already existing business model, you now have a unique selling point and should be ready to shout about it to the world!

Cater to your Audience

As a startup in Korea, you’ll find yourself talking about your business to a lot of different groups of people: investors, potential partners, reporters, competitors and, of course, customers.

However, one of the biggest mistakes that startups make is using the same spiel to talk to every single person.

Remember that what makes your business memorable to an investor is completely different to what makes you stand out to a customer. Why’s that? Because, they have different interests, of course.

If you know your audience well and keep their own unique interests in mind every time you speak to them, you can really make your startup stand out in Korea.

Find an Amazing Partner

Korea is awash with talent in every industry; from tech to marketing and communications. As a startup, you might think that its best to bootstrap and do things on your own. But, having an amazing partner could be the key to your business success.

If you find someone who can enhance the parts of your business that you struggle with, your startup will go from strength to strength. It’s true what they say, sometimes: two heads really are better than one!

The post 4 Failproof Ways to Make your Startup Stand Out in Korea appeared first on Startup Radar.

On Thursday night, some of the greatest minds in the startup industry gathered at Google’s Campus Seoul for the eagerly anticipated Runway to RISE Seoul event. Furthermore, the event attracted over 150 people who came to watch eight young startup companies compete for the chance to attend Asia’s largest Tech Conference: Rise Hong Kong, which takes place next month.

The eight entrepreneurs showed an immense amount of talent; reflecting the strength of the startup scene in Korea. Therefore, we saw a diverse range of business types, including a blockchain based security firm, a 3D app developer for real estate firms, and a career consultancy firm, battle it out in their 3-minute pitches.

In the end, the judges and the audience voted for Cashmallow: an Asia based currency transfer app that helps travelers avoid expensive foreign transaction fees.

About the Prize: The Rise Summit in Hong Kong

RISE is a Startup summit, held in Hong Kong, which is attended by some of the biggest tech innovators of our time. In addition, the brains behind some of our generation’s most prominent tech brands, such as Grab, Tinder, Line, and Microsoft, will attend this year.

The young entrepreneurs who attend the summit can enjoy invaluable networking opportunities that could help them land their big break. Cashmallow, the winner of last night’s event, won her place at the summit in Hong Kong, where she’ll battle it out with seven other winners from elsewhere in Asia to win $1.5 million startup investment money.

The Future of Startups in Korea

One of the main themes of the event was the potential that startup companies in Korea hold. Furthermore, Casey Lau talked about this in his opening words and the sentiment was echoed again in the panel discussions.

All of the talks reflected what an exciting time this is for the startup industry in Korea. In addition, The Asian Pacific market could be set to overtake Europe and the Americas as the largest in the world. Therefore, this level of growth offers a lot of security to young entrepreneurs looking to start their own projects.

Korea already has a diverse range of investors including government-backed initiatives, angel investors, and private venture capitalists. Startup funding exceeds over $500 million each year.

The Korean government has been working hard to put the country on the map as one of Asia’s prime startup hubs.

Key Growth Areas for Startups in Korea

Korea is known as one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries, so it should come as no surprise that the country is leading the way in terms of advanced technologies such as Fintech, Artifical Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Blockchain.

Blockchain was one of the main themes of the night’s panel talks. Therefore, there was a huge focus on how tech entrepreneurs in Korea are implementing the new technology in their businesses.

Rise to Runway: Seoul, the Sponsors

One of Korea’s most prominent blockchain startups, Foresting was the main sponsor for the event. Foresting is an SNS platform based on blockchain technology that rewards users with cryptocurrency for the content that they upload. Furthermore, the newly established company is already paving the way for blockchain based startups in Korea. As well as passing along their technical knowledge and global connections, they’re also putting Korea on the map as a center for innovation.

The CEO, Daniel Eom, said about the summit:

” This is the first huge event for startup companies in Korea, and it’s a very exciting time for the industry. I’m proud to be a sponsor and to be able to help identify the next big start startup!”

Runway to RISE: Seoul, The Participants Overview

In case you missed it, here’s an overview of the startups who attended Runway to Rise: Seoul, last night.

• Cashmallow: Foreign currency exchange service (winner)
• Rezi: Resume software developer and career consultancy firm (runner up)
• Strix: Energy management firm (runner up)
• Cloudbric: Blockchain based security system
• Hauzd: 3D app developer for real estate firms
• Puerlla: Close to source jewelry retailer
• Open Education Korea: Language learning program
• Ziktalk: Mobile language learning app

Runway to RISE: Seoul, The Verdict

Last night was an extremely inspiring event which showcased the best of Korea’s young entrepreneurial talent. In addition, all of the startups who attended showed a vast amount of promise. We wish them, and any other budding startup businesses in Korea, the very best of luck for the future.

The post Runway to RISE Seoul: Korea Startup Event Review appeared first on Startup Radar.

What kind of investors are they?

You should know as much as you can about your investor.  Are they Angel stage? Early Stage?  Most importantly for you, the entrepreneur is whether they have the wallet to actually follow through and help you grow.  Can you find investors that believe in what you are doing and that can actually grow with you?  That will actually help you not just with the seed but for series A/B.  They don’t even have to lead the round, because actually as a venture capitalist I don’t want to lead every round.  I want to lead the first round to set the right precedent but I want somebody else who you’ve convinced to come in and take the next round.  Then I will follow in on it.

Are they financial or strategic?

I am not just about making money, I am actually looking to have my investment in you be strategic for something else I am doing, my other investments.  So that is kind of the distinction that you need to make, are they interested in me because they want to make money or is this part of their bigger scheme?

Get to know your investors

Spend some outside time with your investors so you understand what they are like.  Do your due diligence by talking to other companies they have invested into.  How has this investor been treating you?

Investors with relevant knowledge.

If the investors do not know the sector you are talking about or the technology that you possess?  That investor does not have the network to actually help you.  Does the investor know something that is useful to you.  Especially if you are going to your B or C stage and you are going to international expansion.  Are the investors going to be helpful because they know people, they know the sector, have they invested in this type of investment before?  That makes the due diligence process much easier and that makes the entrepreneur’s job easier and overall that will make the relationship a lot easier going forward.

Have they been successful?

I personally can tell you that as we are just forming our fund and we will officially launch in January.  We don’t have a track record, but we have exited many times and have made money.  Money can be a representation of if they have done their job well.  Smartly investing and actually exiting.

Can they watch your six?

This is an American terminology but it basically means can they watch your back (6 O’clock).  Most Korean entrepreneurs are very busy charging forward, they have the energy, they have the motivation, they have the drive and vision.  SO they are moving forward and to your 3 and 9 are your competitors.  Sometimes you are so focused on what you are doing you sometimes forget about your 3 and 9.  So if you are in your series B and a small company took your model and tweaked it a little bit and can outflank you.  That can kill a company.

Are they a full-service firm?

This doesn’t mean they have to be a firm with over 40 investment professionals and 60 back office staff.  It means can these investors do what you need them to do.  Can they run some meetings with you, can they introduce you to other investors, can they open up doors with some strategic potential.  When they open these doors do they have credibility?  That is probably the most important thing an investor can do for you as a Smart Investor, they can actually do for you what you can not do for yourself.  Investors sometimes take for granted that you know your business, you know your technology, you know your sector better than us.  That is why you are doing it.  But once you get to a certain size you NEED assistance, so find investors that can actually help you and are interested in you.  Will this investor pick up the phone or even fly for you?  This is a very honest conversation you should have once you are looking for that “Smart Money”.

The post What Korean Startups Should Look for in an Investor: Smart Money appeared first on Startup Radar.

If you ask most Korean startups or startups in general, they will tell you that the most challenging aspect of starting a startup is finding investments.  Raising capital can be time-consuming.  In addition, many don’t know where to start.  It is very difficult to get your startups name out there.  Therefore, Founders need to be very active and take every opportunity they can to meet as many investors as possible.  Runway to RISE Seoul will be one of the best opportunities for Korean startups to expand their network of investors.  Startups can grow their network not only in Korea but in Hong Kong and China as well.  Runway to RISE takes place June 14th.  All the information can be found on www.r2riseseoul.com.  Korean startups looking to apply for Runway to RISE Seoul please follow the link here.

500v2 will be hosting the Runway to RISE Seoul event.  Furthermore, 500v2, Web Summit, and Startup Radar will be looking to do more startup events in Seoul in the future.

Meet Investors

Many startups join pitch competitions not just for the prizes but also for the connections.  Runway to RISE Seoul will be live streamed on Facebook so Korean startups will not just be pitching to local investors at the event but to tens, if not hundreds of VCs and Angel investors.  You just need to catch the eye of just ONE of these investors and it would have made the event a success for your startup.

The winning team will have access to RISE’s mentor/investor database and will be able to request investor meetings at RISE Hong Kong.

Form Partnerships

This is a great opportunity to meet other startup founders who you can connect with, share ideas, ask questions, and even form partnerships.  There will be speakers from The Greater Bay Area for startups looking to expand out of Korea and into China or Hong Kong.

500v2, Web Summit, RISE, and Startup Radar hope all Korean startups apply to this pitch competition before June 1st.  The Web Summit team and 500v2 team will then select 8 startups.  Then those 8 lucky Korean startups will participate in the pitch competition at Google’s Campus Seoul on June 14th!

The post Korean Startups Need to Apply for Runway to RISE Seoul appeared first on Startup Radar.

Here are some tips for Korean startups.  First is that it is a really big deal to get a corporate in your cap table early.  It is not necessarily a good thing.  What I mean by “it is a big deal” is that it is a really important decision.  Because there is a signaling effect to being associated with a large strategic from such an early stage.

It makes a lot of sense for corporates to make strategic investments as a company is growing, to open up customers.  But from such an early stage when you are thinking about your customers.  When you are thinking about the constituents you are working with and already being associated with a big corporate, you just want to be really careful about who that is.  As well as what that benefit and tradeoff is early on.

When it Makes Sense

When you are at the growth stage, it can make a lot of sense.  However, when you are at such an early stage, working so closely with a corporate, there is a co-branding element that you need to be really intentional about and sometimes it can be a great thing and sometimes it can be too early for startups.

Korean Startups Going Global

For Korean startups, they need to first be focused on the local market from the beginning.  The important part is to build your team with a global perspective.  So start early in recruiting global international talent that meets a global standard of excellence.  Even for Korean startups focusing on the local Korean market.  This will require a lot more work and you may not have the networks to do it.  Therefore this is whether the accelerator programs can help.  But you need to start building your team with a global perspective from day one.

Join an Accelerator Program

One of the best benefits of startups that come out of accelerator programs vs those that do not is that they have this amazing community and alumni network.  As great as the accelerator programs in Korea are, the community that startups get access to and the ability to reach out to other startup founders that are going through the same thing is priceless.  Just the psychological benefit of that in and of itself can really show a difference.  Because those that have a community through an accelerator can really benefit not just in the tangible things but in the qualitative psyche of an entrepreneur.  Being a part of a community and doing this together really is beneficial.

The post Tips for Korean Startups appeared first on Startup Radar.

RISE will be coming to Seoul for the first time ever!  They have partnered with 500v2 the organizers of Startup Festival 2017 to bring Runway to RISE Seoul.  Runway to RISE gives an opportunity to early-stage startups (those that have raised less than $200,000) to pitch at RISE on their BREAKTHROUGH stage on Day 3.  The winner of the BREAKTROUGH stage will win an Alpha stand at Web Summit in early November.

Runway to RISE is traveling to 8 cities in Asia to pick the best early-stage startup from each country.  Each startup will represent their country at RISE Hong Kong (July 9-12th 2018).  Those 8 winners will compete on the BREAKTHROUGH stage.

The 8 cities this year will be:

1. Seoul
2. Tokyo
3. Shanghai
4. Beijing
5. Taipei
6. Singapore
7. Bangkok
8. Hong Kong

Who will represent Korea at RISE Hong Kong?  Applications to compete at Runway to RISE Seoul will be starting soon.  RISE and 500v2 will choose 8 Korean startups to pitch at Google Campus Seoul 6/14.

The winning Korean Startup will get:

• 3 free tickets to RISE
• 1-day exhibition stand
• Request investor meetings
• Access mentors and investor database
• Access to exhibition floor on all 3 days
• Access to workshops, pub crawls and all talks.
• pitch on the BREAKTHROUGH stage.

(Please note: this is a separate event to PITCH on Center Stage and being an Alpha startup.)

RISE Hong Kong

RISE is produced by the team behind Web Summit.  In only 6 years, Web Summit has become Europe’s largest tech conference which last year attracted 53,000 attendees from 136 countries around the world.  RISE will bring together people from the world’s biggest companies and most exciting startups to share their stories and experiences.  They will be joined by major global media, hundreds of VCs and thousands of attendees for the three-day event.

This is an opportunity that every early-stage Korean startup needs to take advantage of.  Finally RISE is coming to Seoul, let’s show them what Korea is all about!

The post Runway to RISE Seoul Coming in June! appeared first on Startup Radar.

Angels Den sees around 120 business plans a day.  Every single one of them asks us for the wrong thing.  Every one of them asks us for money.  But what do they really need?  What do all startups really need?  My best advice for Korean Startups would be to focus on these three things.

• Mentoring

Sure Korean startups need money…but money would be fourth.  They need the mentoring that comes with the money, they need to be able to help you actually in your business, deliver it at whatever stage it is at, depending on the geography, depending exactly where you are.  You need mentoring.

• Experience

The second thing Korean Startups the need is the experience of that Business Angel.  You need their help in actually getting to where it is that you want to go.  If you don’t understand that it is going to be very difficult for you to build your business.  Building a business IS difficult, but it makes it that much more complicated for you.

• Contacts

The last thing that Korean Startups need are the contacts that come with the money.  Getting 100,000,000 won from an investor would be great but that investors contacts will be worth 50 to 100 times more.  He can introduce you to the people who can get you sales, distribution, logistics, and explain everything that you need to know.

THEN you need the money.

Startups in the UK

Every day we at Angels Den see 26 businesses who know everything already.  So they go “just give me the money”.  Well the UK has probably the world’s most advanced equity crowdfunding platforms and what they do is just give you the money.  So every day we send 26 businesses to them, therefore we are by far and away the biggest introducers to these companies.

What happens?

They all get funded.

They all say “YAY!  We got funded!” Then….100% of those businesses go out of business in 15 months…100%.  Not one of them is left.

Why?

Because they didn’t understand what they really needed.

Startups in America

The American model of investment where most have done their MBAs in fancy American schools or whatever, it teaches you to chase the money.  Furthermore, it teaches you what money is all about.  The money covers the inefficiency of your business model.  If your business is crap, it is just going to be a crap business with MORE money.

If you haven’t gotten it right at the start and then you start scaling up an inefficient model, guess what is going to happen.  The reason that they fail, is the same reason most businesses will fail out there.  It is because of things you don’t even know, it is the Rumsfeld Paradox, it is that which is going to kill you.  It is the stuff you THINK you know, the stuff you DO know.  That is fantastic, you can read all the books, read all of Steve Job’s memes and inspirational quotes.  You will think you are equipped.  But the things that are going to kill you are your competition moving into the marketplace.

To be continued…

The post Advice for Korean Startups: Do Not Chase the Money! appeared first on Startup Radar.

It is amazing to see how far South Korea has come in just 60 years.  During the time of the Korean War, South Korea and North Korea were dirt poor.  While North Korea has struggled to advance, South Korea has been an economic powerhouse.  South Korea’s GDP in 2017 was close to $1.5 trillion, which is bigger than Australia.  Just 20 years ago the startup ecosystem in South Korea virtually did not exist.  The Korean government was trying to grow and find new ways to create jobs in the economy.  Slowly they would realize that entrepreneurship was the key to job creation and a strong and innovative economy.  When you look at the Korean startup scene today, the community is strong and growing.  Over 500 million dollars a year has gone to funding late-stage startups for a few years now.  There is a lot of potential in FinTech and IoT which are key growth areas for Korea.  It seems the culture has changed as well as more and more young Koreans are looking to get into entrepreneurship.  Here are the five main components of the Korean startup ecosystem.

1) Entrepreneurs in Korea

The number of startups in South Korea in 2017 was close to 30,000 with over 100,000 startup employees.  Just 20 years ago the number of startups was below 2,000.  A vast majority of these startups are in Seoul.  This helps drive trends and word-of-mouth about new products and services. Seoul is essentially a single-market city within a conservative culture slowly adapting to entrepreneurship.

Many Koreans now have an alternative to working for a big conglomerate like Samsung, Hyundai, or LG.  The older generation is starting to embrace entrepreneurship a lot more than in the past. Now young Koreans have the alternative to be an entrepreneur and run their own business.

Foreigners working in Korea

One of the issues, South Korea has been having has been retaining foreign talent.  If you go on the internet you will find many horror stories of foreigners who have worked for big corporations like Samsung.  Usually, when foreigners join a Korean company they will be working with Koreans.  Many times they will be the ONLY foreigner in the company or team.  It is natural for many foreigners to feel isolated and most of the blame/responsibility will fall on them.  Add this to the lack of communication due to language barriers and you have a terrible working environment.  Therefore foreigners need young Korean entrepreneurs with a global mind in order to bridge the gap for a productive working environment.

The Korean Working Culture

The working culture and living culture in Korea is a bit different from the West.  The hours at a Korean company are very long.  While it might say 9-6…in reality you can’t leave at 6 pm.  You need to wait for at least an hour and if there is more work to do, you must finish it before you leave.  Even if that means working until 1-2am.  You most likely will not get overtime.  Korean bosses usually have crazy demands and deadlines which you can never question in public.  Thankfully young Koreans and foreigners are slowly moving away from this archaic Korean working culture.

The Korean government has encouraged more Korean entrepreneurs rather than foreign startup entrepreneurs.  For example, the TIPS (Accelerator Investment-Driven Tech Incubator Program for Startups) in Korea offers Korean government support to share the risk of business failure.  However, it requires for the startup to have at least one Korean startup founder in the company.  This is why you don’t see a lot of foreigners working in Korea.

2) Startup Funding in Korea

Funding in South Korea really started to take off in 2014.  It went from $71 million in funding in 2013 to $949 million in 2014.  Then went to an all-time high of $1.8 billion in 2015.  These days it has settled down to around $500-$600 million per year.  This shows that Korea has a large and diverse range of investors, Korea-based funds, corporate VCs, and Silicon Valley VC firms just to name a few.

Accelerators in Korea

There are many Accelerator programs, Angels, and VC firms in South Korea.  Some of them include:

Softbank Ventures Korea which specializes in IT startup investments.  They are famous for their $1 billion investment in Coupang.

STONEBRIDGE CAPTIAL who invests in early-stage startups through staged investments.

Korean Investment Partners, the leading venture capital firm in Korea.

MBK Partners, the largest and most successful independent private-equity firm.

SparkLabs, a Seoul-based accelerator for early-stage Korean startups that want to go global.

The Ventures, an early stage accelerator with strong connections in Southeast Asia and Silicon Valley

..just to name a few…

Corporate Support

I have not mentioned some of the big corporations that have started their own startup hubs like Samsung’s C-Lab Space or Naver and their Startup Alliance.  A lot of big corporations in South Korea are actively investing in local startups.  However, there is still a large talent gap compared to the United States.  We are talking about talented programmers, engineers, and developers.  The top graduates tend to want to work for global companies like Apple or Google.  Most of the gifted students in Korea tend to want to study abroad in the UK or the US.  Once there they usually don’t come back to Korea.

There is also the pressure from the old generation in South Korea to get stable secure jobs with big conglomerates.  Many Koreans still have a lot of fear about starting their own business, especially a startup.

3) Korean Startup Infrastructure

Currently, there are over 50 co-working spaces in Korea.  Some of the big names include WeWork, Fast Five, Fab Lab, Seoul Startup Hub, Google Campus Seoul, Maru 180, and the most recent HEYGROUND.  There are also over 100 accelerators, incubators, and Innovation Centers in South Korea.  HEYGROUND impressed me the most with their community of changemakers managed by ROOT IMPACT.  Their facility is great as well with their high-end design, open-concept workstations, as well as a restaurant and bar on the bottom floor.

The Korean government also assists in programs to help the startup ecosystem.  South Korea has the highest government backing per capita for start-ups.  I mentioned TIPs earlier but there is also the K-Startup Challenge which promotes collaboration between domestic and foreign startups.  All companies form the K-Startup Challenge work out of the Pangyo Global Startup Campus which was opened in 2016 by the Korean government as part of a new startup hub.

4) Korean Startup Community

Building networks and connections are the best way to form partnerships.  It is important to be a part of a strong community that helps one another.  Entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs is what got Silicon Valley to the level it is today.  In Korea, there are many Startup communities like Startup Alliance which helps foster Korean startups expansion into the global market.  The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, as well as Korean IT companies such as Naver, SK, and Kakao, helped create this community.

There is also Startup Grind Seoul which currently has over 1,600 members.  They hold events and meetups every month to help entrepreneurs in Korea network, learn, and provide support.

Startup Festival 2017

Lastly, there is the Startup Festival that occurs the same time every year (Late November/Early December).  The Startup Festival is organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as well as KOFAC (Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity) to help bring in global startups, investors, and media into Korea.  As well as help Korean startups go global.  The event brings in investors, speakers, media, and startups from Asia, United States, and the UK for a 3-day matchmaking global startup conference.

5) Korea’s Strengths/Weakness

Korea’s Strengths

Korean culture

South Korean popular culture is growing every year.  Korean beauty products are thriving thanks to successful Korean startups like Memebox.  There are over 8,000 K-Beauty brands in South Korea.  Korean K-pop is bigger than ever thanks to groups like Big Bang, 2NE1, and EXO.  Also, the Korean IT infrastructure is one of the best in the world.  The country has the best internet connection and most Koreans own smartphones.  Koreans are early adopters of new technologies and early trend setters for fashion.

Korean Fintech

Fintech is also huge in Korea as Korea is becoming the leader in cryptocurrency exchange and services.  Korea looks to become the leader in the global financial centers.  Soon Seoul will become the FinTech hub of Asia.  One of the top Fintech startups in Korea is Viva Republica, which is the developer of Toss a mobile payment tool that is looking to go global after having much success in Korea.

Korean consumers

Korea has a great consumer market. Their middle class in the majority.  Most people living in Korea have smartphones and a credit card. They have the highest GDP per capita, great wireless penetration, great infrastructure, and fast LTE.  All these elements combine to make a great home market to grow your startup.  This is why Korea is able to support companies and startups in Korea that are focused only on the domestic market.  Korea has 50 million residents that are very tech-savvy.  That is one of the main reasons why Korea is able to support a massively scalable business.  Some examples would be companies like Naver, Coupang, and Ticket Monster that solely focus on the Korean market.

Korea’s Weakness

Cost of living

South Korea has some weaknesses they have to work on.  The cost of living in Seoul is very high.  Especially in Gangnam where you will need to put down a deposit of $10,000 and a monthly payment of at least $600.  This is just a studio apartment.  Therefore most Korean startup entrepreneurs communte in and out of Seoul to avoid the high living cost.  Office spaces are expensive as well, which is why many Startups are moving into co-working spaces.  Starting a startup is hard enough for Korean entrepreneurs, so the last thing they want to do is spend their money on rent.

Finding the right investor

Investors in Korea need more education on investing in startups.  There is a lot of “old” wealth in Korea which has come from real estate and family inheritance.  Most of these old investors WANT to invest in tech startups but they don’t know a lot about it.  Hopefully, this will change as successful startup entrepreneurs give back to the community.  Korea still holds a corporate mentality, therefore it is up to the 2^nd and 3^rd generations of traditional Korean startup entrepreneurs to the ranks of their family hierarchy.  This is the only way Korean startup will be able to go global, they need to throw away the old Korean corporate mentality and bring in fresh minds.  The lack of global know-how for Korean startups really holds back the development of the Korean Startup Ecosystem.

Where are the unicorns?

There have been many startup success stories.  However, South Korea does not have many “Unicorns”.  The only three that come to mind are Coupang (e-commerce), Kakao (Internet), and Yello Mobile (Mobile commerce) who all have established multi-billion dollar valuations.  Korea needs to produce more global startups, Unicorns, and exits are what boosts a startup ecosystem progression that allows Korea to attract global resources which in turn accelerate growth.  It is hard for most Korean startups to break out internationally due to their lack of localization ability.  Therefore most Korean startups tend to focus more on the local market which limits their potential.  Therefore, the Korean startup ecosystem is a bit behind the United States.  It will still take a few years to catch up.

Conclusion

South Korea needs to continue to invest in programs to help the Korean startup ecosystem.  Entrepreneurship has proven time and time again to be the #1 driver for job creation and economic growth.  South Korea will never be able to compete with Silicon Valley or Shanghai, however, they can leverage their own unique assets to create innovative startups.

As long as they push to bring in more and more international talent into Korea, the more likely Korean startups will have the chance to go global.  Korea’s potential is there and many countries are recognizing it.  I fully believe that the Korean startup ecosystem will continue to accelerate while at the same time produce global startups and hopefully Unicorns.

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Most startups in Seoul need to think about expanding the Korean market and going global.  Not to say there are disadvantages to starting out locally for Korean Startups.  It is great to start local and test the market in Korea and make sure it works first.  Then you can start going into other markets like Japan, China, etc.  Usually from what I see this will take about 3 years to fully test the market locally.  But there are times when there is no need to start local and in fact, you might be wasting time starting in a local market and even worse another company might see that you are having success in Korea and steal your idea!  This happens all the time!  So if you can go global right from day one then that is the right strategy.

Is your Company a Global Company?

So look at your company and see if you truly have a global company.  Most VCs not only in Silicon Valley also in Asia are hungry for startups with Global potential.  They are looking for that next big unicorn in order to pay back these huge funds.  When I say “global” I mean more than one market.  No company is truly global.  Even Google is not fully global.  As long as you can expand out of your local market…you will become global.

Lastly, when you go global you will come across a lot more competition and you might think this is a bad thing but competition is what drives innovation.  Competition can only make you stronger and you can learn from other companies to end up making your company truly special.  Those that stick to just the local market will have a hard time innovating and improving.  The key to any startup is constantly improving, learning, and evolving.  The best way to do that is to go global from the start and learn right away if you can compete with other global companies.

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