A BTS look at the busiest investors in South Korea’s startup scene

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Hello reader,

Most discussions about South Korea begin and end with their cultural exports, particularly the massive global popularity of Kpop. I don’t follow Korean pop culture, but even I have heard about girl group Blackpink and their signature lyric “Blackpink in your area.”

I had a good laugh when I saw an Instagram profile with this one-liner: “Back pain in my area.”

(The joke is I’m getting old. So very, very old.)

Anyway, Kpop isn’t the only thing drawing attention to South Korea. Today’s premium article is about the investors who have made the most deals in South Korean startups, and it may come as a surprise (or not) that the leading investor isn’t based in the country.

Today we look at:

• The investors making the most moves in South Korea’s startup scene
• The US$120 million financing round of a SaaS-based employment firm
• Other newsy highlights such as Didi Freight’s plans to cut as much as 50% of its workforce and the seed round of an Indonesia-based fishery startup

Premium summary

These investors aren’t running (man) from South Korea’s startups

Image credit: Timmy Loen

I’ll be frank (and meta): I’ve pretty much used up all my Kpop knowledge with all that Blackpink talk in the opening blurb and the absolutely terrible Running Man reference in the subheader to this section.

Something that isn’t running out, however, is investor interest in South Korea’s startup ecosystem. Today’s premium article looks at who’s been making the most deals in the country over the past 24 months.

• Busy busy busy: The top five VCs have made at least 52 deals over the last two years – that’s a lot of cash.

• Keeping it in the family: Only five of the 100 investors are not based in South Korea.

I’d pay US$120 million for omnipresence