Top 50 Impact Startup Investors in South Korea (October 2023)

Portfolio highlights

• Green Mineral — Green Mineral specializes in recycling metals in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner using microalgae. Green Mineral has developed technology to recycle lithium in an environmentally friendly manner by extracting lithium using a bio-mineralization technique rather than an existing organic solvent.
• RTBP ALLIANCE — RTBP ALLIANCE focuses on creating co-working spaces and modernize old places for local communities.
• Skycool Systems — At SkyCool Systems, our mission is to deliver sustainable, energy-efficient cooling solutions to customers interested in reducing energy costs and carbon footprint. We’ve pioneered radiative cooling as a technology, and shown that specially designed optical films can enable this passive approach to cooling throughout the day. These optical filmsare highly reflective to sunlight but also emit thermal radiation exceptionally well to the cold of space through our atmosphere, enabling daytime operation during the hottest hours of the day. Our core innovation is a rooftop cooling panel. We apply the radiative film to rooftop panels and integrate them with air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The panels can be used as an add-on to air conditioning and refrigeration systems and in some circumstances even replace an air condensing unit. Our technology is accelerating the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable future.

Portfolio highlights

• VPP — Providing clean energy to wherever it is needed
• JeCLEAN — Jacqueline, an ESG startup, draws attention to the vast amounts of abandoned and burnt hotel bedding waste on Jeju Island and provides industrial solutions through upcycling solutions that recycle it into cotton-based raw materials, yarns, and fabrics.
• City Storage — City Storage is a side dish platform that produces and sells salads, soups, and pickles.

Portfolio highlights

• Sangwha — Sangwha is an immersive content production company.
• Everon — Everon is an electric vehicle charging platform that provides maintenance, repair, and control services for electric vehicles and chargers.
• Test Valley — Test Valley sells smartphones, tablets, cameras, computers, and household appliances.

Portfolio highlights

• Pillyze — mobile health care startup
• InHandPlus — We are working to solve the issue of medical nonadherence, where patients don't follow their prescribed medical regimes. This is a common and costly problem, and can even result in serious consequences. Our proprietary smartwatch is able to tell what medicine users take, and when they take it. Our AI-based management platform then collects thedata and provides personalized healthcare services and insights.
• Test Valley — Test Valley sells smartphones, tablets, cameras, computers, and household appliances.

Portfolio highlights

• Petpharma — Petpharma is an Operator of an e-commerce platform intended to provide veterinary medicines.
• Uniqconn — Uniqconn is a telecommunication company that offers wireless and mechanical interference services.
• Pribit Technology — Pribit Technology is a technology agency that provides cloud network security technology to related technology services.

Portfolio highlights

• Trustay — Trustay is a real estate asset management company.
• AIZEN Global — AIZEN is redesigning Digital Banking with CreditConnect, powered by our proprietary ABACUS AutoML platform specialized in the financial services industry. CreditConnect is an AI lending platform designed to bridge the gap between banks and data economy platforms, and automate key decision-making processes in accordance with the credit cycle. Thecompany has secured Series B round funding from a state-led fintech innovation fund (K-Growth) led by major Korean banks to roll out CreditConnect in Southeast Asia.We are also leading the digital transformation in the financial services industry using proprietary AutoML platform ABACUS, with successful use cases in underwriting, fraud detection, product development, claim analysis, and more.
• Kuntian New Energy — Hebei Kuntian New Energy is a producer of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Portfolio highlights

• Fxip — FXIP has the capacity to quickly complete a number of processes, including product planning, design, and manufacturing. Through the introduction of various IP brands in the food & life sector, it has already demonstrated the potential of the business.
• Bean Blur — Beanblr Corporation began offering smart logistics services. Businesses using the service can address logistics issues in Dongdaemun, such as challenges in employing logistics workers, challenges with order picking, ambiguous inventory status, and a lack of real-time response.
• Simply Care Bio — Simply Care Bio is a care food company that manufactures functional foods based on ingredient composition and amplification technology through water-solubilization of fatty acids and immunity-building technology through cell activation.

Portfolio highlights

• 42dot — The answer to mobility and everything
• Gbike — Gbike is a mobility sharing startup in Korea, innovating green urban mobility in Korea where currently car-centric environment. Our service includes bike and scooter sharing with IT services specialized for Korean market with 50MM population.
• BOS Semiconductors — BOS Semiconductors develops semiconductor technology for the automotive industry.

Portfolio highlights

• slowave — Slowwave discovered that the current sleep test is performed in a foreign hospital setting with numerous sensors attached to the head, making it impossible to test and identify sensitive insomnia patients effectively. As a result, a microprocessor and low-power measuring algorithm were integrated into an ultra-light patch, allowing patients withinsomnia to easily perform sleep EEG at home while eliminating factors that interfere with the examination and boosting measurement precision.
• Amo Travel — Amo Travel likewise swiftly established a market fit in Korea with minimal blog promotion.
• Apollon Inc. — Noninvasive Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Portfolio highlights

• Dremo — Dreamo is a leading game developer making great games for friends, family, and people around the world.
• Runbear — Runbear optimizes customer support with data-driven insights from past incidents and your product's knowledge base.
• Polestar Games — Polestar Games creates the MMORPG 'Project N' for PC and console platforms. Project N is an open-world game set in a medieval dark fantasy setting. Many believe that market aspirations for a AAA-level MMORPG that supports both PC and consoles are unrealistic.

Portfolio highlights

• Foody Worm — Foody Worm is an insect research company that practices and develops ESG and sustainability management through insects.
• Headless — We provides growth-hacking D2C solutions through AI headless commerce technology with data-pipeline connection and auto-marketing solutions.
• Works Mate — Works Mate is a job search matching platform for daily workers in the field of construction and architecture sectors.

Portfolio highlights

• Eastend — Eastend is an e-commerce company engaged in the fashion business.
• Playtag — Playtag uses AI technology to analyze infant behavior and provide customized education in kindergartens.
• sendy Korea — sendy Korea is a cloud-based logistics platform that provides on-demand freight transportation services.

Portfolio highlights

• Kinava — Kinava developing organic waste into renewable energy based on our own advanced technology through many experiments and research.
• Order Hero — Order Hero is an application for food service management.
• DNC Biotechnology — DNC Biotechnology is an R&D centre that researches and improves technology for medical devices.

Portfolio highlights

• LOWE — Lowe is a shared beauty salon platform service that provides a variety of beauty infrastructure such as beauty spaces, facilities and materials, and creates an optimal environment for designers to focus on the essence.
• Trash Busters — Trash Busters manufactures reusable cups and dishes.
• Travel Wallet — Travel Wallet is a foreign currency payment service that uses the Travel Wallet application. The travel Pay card is free of charge for overseas payments. The payments are overseas direct purchases and overseas payments without commission. The license for small overseas remittance businesses and electronic financial businesses by meeting variouscomputer facilities and all requirements. The platform agreement with banks.

Portfolio highlights

• Autoel — Autoel is a lidar sensing technology for self-driving cars.
• H2 — H2 is a Korea-based advanced energy storage company specialized in vanadium redox flow battery which is an optimal solution especially for large-scale and long-duration energy storage. H2 has developed cutting-edge EnerFLOW series energy storage using its own vanadium redox flow batteries, which is commercially available at the moment. H2 isexpected to grow fast and big due to H2's unique design and manufacturing capabilities, and a promising market of large-scale energy storage.
• Openknowl — OPENKNOWL is an online career management system, offering mentoring facilities and careers camps for those wanting to develop a career in the IT sector.

Portfolio highlights

• Levit — Mobile commerce app that allows customers to have an enjoyable and affordable shopping experience
• Eight Tech — Eight Tech is a resource circulation platform that solves the waste problem with science and technology.
• Green Mineral — Green Mineral specializes in recycling metals in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner using microalgae. Green Mineral has developed technology to recycle lithium in an environmentally friendly manner by extracting lithium using a bio-mineralization technique rather than an existing organic solvent.

Portfolio highlights

• CLOP — CLOP is an ophthalmology medical company that provides services to prevent blindness in patients through AI-based eye disease management.
• Cashwalk — Cashwalk is an app that motivates to walk by providing financial incentives.
• GTL — GTL manufactures hydraulic equipment, mechanical parts, industrial robots and automation equipment or aircraft and spacecraft parts.

Portfolio highlights

• arcreal — Arcreal, Software Redefines Digital Dentistry
• Panmnesia — True composable resource disaggregation, CXL hardware/software infrastructure from the beginning to the end.
• Caring — Caring is a visiting medical treatment facility that offers medical consultation.

Portfolio highlights

• N.Light — N.Light is a Metaverse 3D design software that allows individuals to effortlessly turn their ideas into reality.
• Pilleye — Pilleye, the world's No. 1 counting app. Count up to 1,000 pills through a picture. Medility provides digitalized solution for pharmacies.
• Everon — Everon is an electric vehicle charging platform that provides maintenance, repair, and control services for electric vehicles and chargers.

Portfolio highlights

• Aigens — Aigens is a tech start-up that has helped steer the digital revolution of the F&B and Hospitality industry in Asia Pacific. The company led the way with mobile ordering and popularized scan-to-order long before Covid-19 triggered the mainstream adoption of their use.Founded in 2012 by Hans Paul (CEO) and Peter Liu (CTO), Aigens has grown intoa SaaS company known for being a market leader with significant wins, essentially being the first to introduce BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) QR code ordering technology to Hong Kong and Singapore.Headquartered in Hong Kong, Aigens serves more than 500 brands in F&B and Hospitality, including global names like KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, and IKEA. In the last three years, the company experienced its most significant growth, resulting in 6 regional offices and 120 team members.
• Revation — Revation is an eco-friendly product development company that focuses on environmental issues through design and technology.
• Connotate — Connotate transforms web data and content into high-value information assets -- to feed content products, grow market and business intelligence, enable mass data aggregation, migration and integration. Connotate's patented intelligent Agent technology empowers both business users and programmers to quickly create data sets, newapplications and content products. With Connotate, customers experience productivity gains, reduced costs, mitigated risks, more informed decision-making and strategic & competitive advantages.

Portfolio highlights

• Foody Worm — Foody Worm is an insect research company that practices and develops ESG and sustainability management through insects.

Portfolio highlights

• Dremo — Dreamo is a leading game developer making great games for friends, family, and people around the world.
• Kneader — Kneader is a job search platform that offers staffing and recruiting services.
• Bring It On — Bring It On is a mission to redefine the skill games category, merging strong technological infra.

Portfolio highlights

• Hubriz — Hubriz is a babysitter hiring company.
• Hubris.io — A new tool that blends your everyday work apps into one. It's the all-in-one workspace for you and your team
• Works Mate — Works Mate is a job search matching platform for daily workers in the field of construction and architecture sectors.

Portfolio highlights

• Bionsight — Bionsight is a drug discovery company that uses Chemoproteomics interweaved with AI to speed up the drug development process.
• Superblock — Superblock vision removes centralized web servers and puts blockchain run by the people in the system's core.
• Pribit Technology — Pribit Technology is a technology agency that provides cloud network security technology to related technology services.

Portfolio highlights

• Revation — Revation is an eco-friendly product development company that focuses on environmental issues through design and technology.
• Adler — Adler creates a social media application to create personal space. The company was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

Portfolio highlights

• GOPIZZA — GOPIZZA is a food and beverage company based in Mapo.
• VeXeRe.Com — Founded in 2013, VeXeRe.com is the largest online bus ticket platform in Vietnam. They help passengers book bus tickets conveniently thanks to their 1,000+ bus companies network and coverage for trips within Vietnam and from Vietnam to neighbor countries. Their payment channels include online payment, payment at 24/7 convenience stores, banktransfers, and other channels that provide customers with convenient booking experience.
• Brite Energy Partners — Brite Energy Partners develops a clean energy platform that offers a solar income plan for landowners, project owners, and building owners.

Portfolio highlights

• Curacel — Curacel creates APIs & tools that enable businesses to embed insurance in digital channels and to administer claims cost-effectively.
• Siffron — siffron provides retail merchandising and custom display solutions.With more than 60 years of retail expertise, siffron has more than 6,000 retail fixtures, store shelving, shelf management systems, and stock displays.
• Europa Eyewear — Europa is an eyewear company which is proud to craft products and policies focused on supporting likeminded, independent eye care professionals

Portfolio highlights

• Returnit — RETURNIT is a service that replaces single-use containers with reusable containers used for food delivery.
• Sugarblade — Sugarblade is a non-destructive test-based used golf goods certification and trading platform.
• City Storage — City Storage is a side dish platform that produces and sells salads, soups, and pickles.

Portfolio highlights

• Bbodek — Bbodek provider of tableware rental and washing services intended for restaurants and school cafeterias. They provide products for children's tableware and hygiene management services. They specialize in using their self-developed smart factory to render low defect services to consumers, enabling them to just focus on cooking without worryingabout cleaning up. They are expanding their business to customized washing machine manufacture and sales.
• Petnow Inc. — Petnow offers AI-driven pet biometric ID for dogs and cats on mobile phones. Register & identify pets by scanning their unique nose or face.
• jeongyookgak — jeongyookgak produces and sells fresh meat.

Portfolio highlights

• Binding — Binding is an-energy related manufacturing company that produces solar power generation devices.

Portfolio highlights

• Evrynet — Evrynet Providing infrastructure that enables developers and businesses to build an unlimited number of Centralised/Decentralised Finance (CeDeFi) applications, interoperable with many of the world's leading blockchains for everyone.
• RECO — Integrated waste and resource management platform copmany
• Stoic Entertainment — Stoic Entertainment is a VR game developer with core technologies related to VR content and will develop blockchain games later.

Portfolio highlights

• ALUX — ALUX is a content creation company that specializes in video and coding education content.
• New Vessel — New Vessel is to navigate the sea of e-commerce. We utilize our e-commerce and consumer branding experience and partner with world-class e-commerce experts.
• ZUZU Hospitality — ZUZU Hospitality is chain for independent hotels, delivering revenue growth through distribution and revenue management.As such, we are the indisputable primary partner to hoteliers in driving revenue. Acting as their hotel operating system, we power their back office revenue generation business operations, allowing them to focus on being greathoteliers.

Portfolio highlights

• Absology — Developer of in-vitro-diagnostic systems designed to help save more lives. The company's platform offers various diagnostic kits such as testosterone, vitamin - D, PSA, TSH, FreeT4, PCT and also helps in anti-cancer therapy monitoring, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's diseases monitoring, enabling doctors to easily diagnosedifferent types of medical conditions and treat them suitably.
• PMX Inc. — PMX is a digital health company that delivers personalized physical examination through the democratization of medical imaging with AI to providers and patients all around the world. We at PMX have developed a multi-modality imaging platform to measure the major vital organs and tissues of the body for universal care and wellness.
• Unastella — Unastella operates its own launch vehicles to provide human space travel platform services.

Portfolio highlights

• Dot Inc — Dot Inc. has developed a state-of-the-art, innovative, braille cell that is 95% smaller and 90% cheaper than the standard piezo-electric cells. The Dot Cell has brought revolutionary changes to the world through advancements in electromagnetic actuator technology. The Dot Watch is the first fully-Braille smartwatch in the world. We believeeveryone has the right to move freely and connect with the world, regardless of circumstances. Dot Inc., through its mission, will reduce the information gap through tactile literacy all around the world.
• Kokoji — Kokoji is a kids' audio tech platform. Kokoji redesigns childrens content consumption journeys based on audio content. Kokoji provides services for children, such as language, brain, and emotional development, through auditory stimulation.
• FREECO — FREECO is a content provider for businesses. Consultation, sales, and software development and supply Cosmetics wholesale and retail business Marketing consulting and advertising business.

Portfolio highlights

• Refeely — Refeely provides sustainable carton packaging solutions for beverages.
• Scone — Scone provides virtual youtuber and video conferencing services.

Portfolio highlights

• Binding — Binding is an-energy related manufacturing company that produces solar power generation devices.

Portfolio highlights

• KevinLAB — KevinLAB is a company specializing in platforms of energy management systems.

Portfolio highlights

• Nearthlab — Nearthlab is a technology-driven startup founded by M.S. and Ph.D. graduates in aerospace engineering from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), often called the “MIT of Korea.” Nearthlab is focusing on developing autonomous drones, powered by proprietary deep learning algorithm, to automate safety inspection of industrialfacilities, an industry with estimated market size of billions of dollars. Nearthlab’s first product is an “all-in-one” automated inspection solution for wind turbine blades, which covers gathering visual data using drones, detecting cracks and damages by AI, and generating reports with minimal human involvement. Nearthlab is currently servicing numerous wind farms in Korea, with ongoing negotiations with various partners in Korea and overseas, including Japan and the United States, for wind farms and other facilities such as cell tower.
• Brandi — Brandi sells clothes, cosmetics, and home interior products.
• House Decoration — House Decoration is a seller of home interiors, furniture, and home products.

Portfolio highlights

• Levit — Mobile commerce app that allows customers to have an enjoyable and affordable shopping experience
• Green Mineral — Green Mineral specializes in recycling metals in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner using microalgae. Green Mineral has developed technology to recycle lithium in an environmentally friendly manner by extracting lithium using a bio-mineralization technique rather than an existing organic solvent.
• Crossbow Therapeutics — Crossbow Therapeutics is a seed-stage, stealth-mode oncology startup company. The company develops antibody engineering for intracellular cancer targets.

Portfolio highlights

• Bbodek — Bbodek provider of tableware rental and washing services intended for restaurants and school cafeterias. They provide products for children's tableware and hygiene management services. They specialize in using their self-developed smart factory to render low defect services to consumers, enabling them to just focus on cooking without worryingabout cleaning up. They are expanding their business to customized washing machine manufacture and sales.
• Wahyoo — Wahyoo is a technology company that wants to help the traditional food stalls owner to achieve business success and reach a prosperous life. Our mission is to standardize the quality of products and services of traditional food stall by providing outstanding supply chain, operation, marketing, and financial infrastructure through technology.
• Campus Ground — Campus Ground is a camping platform that provides camping site search, camping content, and camping supplies.

Portfolio highlights

• Storelink — Storelink is an open market optimization platform that analyzes and processes accurate online sales data.
• Maka Motors — MAKA is dedicated to building the best electric motorcycles for Indonesian riders.
• Epic Corporation — The Epic One platform services will be improved, and Epic Corporation will broaden its business sectors. First, the global bidding system in four significant Asian nations will be improved overall, coupled with an update to the AI function that determines the anticipated contract price, in order to maximize the transaction completion rate for thesale of luxury assets. Additionally, there is a plan to considerably broaden its brands and product categories, which currently include luxury watches, luggage, hypercars, and artwork.

Portfolio highlights

• Aeonus — Aeonus is a carbon neutral startup company that offers eco-friendly power source to replace diesel generators.

Portfolio highlights

• NoTag — NoTag (노태그) is a Korean border e-commerce-based service provider that intends to provide customers with a cross-boundary online and offline service in which they can buy qualified and well-designed Korean products at affordable prices.NoTag provides global online and offline commerce solutions to small- and medium-sized Korean suppliers whowish to sell their own brands and products to a global market.NoTag also offers localized online and offline commerce services to global consumers and resellers who are interested in Korean products.
• AiM Future — AiM Future provides AI processors, software, and AI system integration services.
• Piter Peter — Piter Peter is a pet healthcare platform that provides health care guides to companion animals based on genetic testing.

Portfolio highlights

• SimpliSafe — Shop award-winning home security systems from SimpliSafe. Professional monitoring, protection from break-ins and hazards, and no contracts.
• Green Mineral — Green Mineral specializes in recycling metals in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner using microalgae. Green Mineral has developed technology to recycle lithium in an environmentally friendly manner by extracting lithium using a bio-mineralization technique rather than an existing organic solvent.
• You Need Character — [YouNeedCharacter] Our contents bring joy and lifelong lessons to children around the world. We will bring new experiences and inspiration through convergence with IT technologies.

Portfolio highlights

• Brandi — Brandi is a vertical commerce company that creates B2C and B2B platforms for fashion and beauty shopping. The company specializes in the fields of apps, app marketing, and online shopping platform. Brandi was founded in 2014 and headquartered in Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, South Korea.
• Wallapop — Wallapop is a hyper-local mobile marketplace for buying and selling secondhand goods, primarily accessible via a mobile app. It uses a geo-localized technology that connects a community of 15 million users by offering an easy and convenient way to buy and sell items that are no longer used. The platform, which has found a second home for more than180 million items, provides people with access to unique goods at great prices while extending the life of fully functional products. Since its inception, Wallapop has been committed to continuous innovation in the online classifieds industry and second-hand market and aspires to use technology to contribute to sustainability. The company is backed by investors Korelya Capital, NAVER, Accel, Insight Venture Partners, 14W, and Northzone. It was founded in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain by Agustin Gomez, Miguel Vicente, and Gerard Olive in 2013.
• Interior Teacher — Interior Teacher is solidifying its position as a premium home styling service.

Portfolio highlights

• GSIL Co., Ltd. — GSIL Co., Ltd provide ‘Total safety care solution’ using Risk-Matrix first in world.We are doing our best i) To apply filed-worker’s needs ii) To administrate safety of filed-workers using real-time IoT technology. iii) To reduce overtime works.in our misson, ‘Good Safety in Life’.<Saint> that is GSIL’s safety solution reportlabor’s exact location, identification, state of educated and situation of admission control.The Saint is designed to enable safety-manager/person-in-charge to figure out all situation of field. 1. Precheck dangerous factor. 2. Analyze possibility of accident occurrence. 3. To able to handle the crisis stand on accurate data.The Saint, safety-control-system using IoT technology is already used in real field.The Saint help field-manager to figure out all situation, to diagnose dangerous in real-time, to establish best strategy in crisis.
• Scatter Lab — Scatter Lab (스캐터랩) is a text-based Korean sentiment analysis service which is available as a smartphone application.
• Sapeon Korea — The Fastest Hyper-Cloud AI Processor. AI everywhere, SAPEON everywhere.

Portfolio highlights

• DeepHow — DeepHow uses machine learning to capture real-time technical expertise in the form of smart how-to videos generated in record time.
• ConnectDER — ConnectDER develops small elegant solutions for big complex problems in the power and water sectors.
• Venti Technologies — Venti Technologies is a safe-speed autonomous vehicles developer company.

Portfolio highlights

• Cloud Stone — Cloud Stone provides delivery services for college students.
• Growing Sales — Growing Sales is a mobile application that handles payment methods of customers.
• Packaging Poss — Packaging Poss is a packaging firm that offers packaging services including standardized design, material selection, and design.

Portfolio highlights

• Munto — Munto is a community platform that enables individuals to connect better online and offline depending on their interests.
• Switchwon — Switchwon provides currency exchange services.
• Green Mineral — Green Mineral specializes in recycling metals in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner using microalgae. Green Mineral has developed technology to recycle lithium in an environmentally friendly manner by extracting lithium using a bio-mineralization technique rather than an existing organic solvent.

Portfolio highlights

• Rubit — Rubit is an online mobile application with the provisions for individuals to take care of their pets.
• Cre Planet — Cre Planet creates technologies for analyzing advertising performance and provides staffing services.
• Wise Convey — Wise Convey is innovating smart logistics, starting with task automation.