Korea’s SparkLabs to launch second accelerator specifically for ‘Internet of Things’ startups

Sometimes accelerators accelerate startups, and sometimes they accelerate themselves. SparkLabs, the Seoul-based accelerator founded by Jimmy Kim, Hanjoo Lee, and Bernard Moon is doing just that, as it announces it will open a second accelerator specifically for ‘Internet of Things’ startups.

Set to launch in early 2015, the as-yet unnamed accelerator will be based out of South Korea’s Songdo International Business District. That six square kilometer bit of land was once a giant pile of sand, but thanks to a US$35 billion effort from the Korean government, the territory is slowly (perhaps too slowly) transforming into ultra-connected, ultra-automated, ultra-green city of the future. In a short feature, The Atlantic depicts Songdo as urban district that’s a little sleepy and not quite at flying car-level futurism, but one where a tech-minded tourist might get a kick out of its waste management infrastucture.

“Songdo and Seoul are completely different,” SparkLabs’ Hanjoo Lee tells Tech in Asia.  “Songdo is a wired city built from the ground up, so IoT startups will have an easier time plugging into the city’s infrastructure and integrating their various products or services.  They couldn’t even imagine some of the things they will be able to do in Songdo versus Seoul.”

Lee says that this new accelerator will operate much like the original one in Seoul, wherein batches of about eight teams from Korea and abroad work from SparkLabs’ offices for a six month period, culminating with a day of presentations in front of investors. SparkLabs intends on making investments under US$100,000 in exchange for equity in the teams that join. However, all startups specializing in connected devices will join the new accelerator, while SparkLabs’ flagship accelerator will focus on “online and healthcare startups.”

SparkLabs’ Seoul accelerator is currently incubating 10 teams in its fourth batch.

Editing by Steven Millward, top image by baronreznik