PALO ALTO, Calif., May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — SparkLabs Group, which has the largest accelerator network in Asia and operates global venture capital funds, has engaged with Argon Group, a leading digital finance advisory firm, to launch the first startup accelerator security token offering through their Smart City & Smart Planet Fund (sparklabs.tokenhub.com). The SparkLabs [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The amount of crowdfunding in South Korea soared about 60 percent last year, data showed Wednesday, signaling the platform grew as an effective financing option for startups. According to the data by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), 183 companies raised a combined 27.8 billion won (US$25.9 million) last year, [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will launch a 2.6 trillion-won (US$2.45 billion) investment fund for startups this year, the first portion of a proposed 10 trillion-won investment fund that is to be created by 2020, the finance ministry said Wednesday. Earlier, the government said it will allocate 30 trillion won over the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Exports by South Korea’s venture startups will likely hit a record US$20 billion this year helped by surging shipments of instrumentation and control devices and semiconductor production equipment to China and Vietnam, industry data showed Friday. The amount reached $14.7 billion for the first nine months this year, up [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banks sharply scaled up their investment in tech startups in the first half of the year with their lending to the sector climbing solidly, the financial regulator said Thursday. Domestic lenders’ investment in low-credit startups with a high level of technology stood at some 1.2 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The amount of crowdfunding in South Korea shot up nearly 29 percent this year, data showed Friday, showing the platform growing as an effective financing option for startups. According to the data by the Korea Securities Depository, 106 companies raised a combined 14.2 billion won (US$12.6 million) from 5,826 [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) announced today that an investment forum specially devoted to the nurturing of startups and venture capital firms in the semiconductor industry will be launched in the near future. The purpose of the forum is to offer a variety of services such as management [...]
SEOUL, May 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Starting a new business in South Korea requires an average 200 million won (US$178,491) in starting money, and it takes about four years to break even, a stage that more than 60 percent of the startups don’t reach because they are forced to close before then, a report said [...]
SEOUL, May 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The government plans to raise 500 billion won (US$447.5 million) in funds to help entrepreneurs at venture startups restart business when they fail, officials said Thursday. In South Korea, a failure in a venture startup often leads to ruin, prompting young entrepreneurs to shun risk-taking, which has been cited [...]
SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) – South Koreans are among the least interested in pursuing new business ventures, as many still fear failure could result in the loss of their entire savings. Among 34 OECD member countries, South Korea ranked 33rd in business opportunity perception, ahead only of Japan, according to the report ‘Small, Medium, Strong: [...]