Category
- 🎤 Event Review
Date of issue
Oct 28, 2024
Date: Thursday, October 17, 2024 Venue: COEX Grand Conference Room 401
Event Introduction
Approximately 600 VCs and startups attended the first half of 2024 Demo Day (April). This year's second half Demo Day was also an invite-only event for VCs and startups. The main event details are as follows.
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Investment Pitching: Pitching of innovative teams that have achieved remarkable growth indicators in various fields and stages, including AI, ESG, FinTech, and AdTech.
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Private Panel Session: Hashed CEO Kim Seo-jun and Story Protocol co-founder Lee Seung-yoon, a company valued at 3 trillion won that recently attracted investment from Hashed and a16z, will participate in the private panel session.
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Other events: Packed with useful content that will be of practical help to entrepreneurs and investors, including networking.
Opening Reception
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Participating company booths: Domestic and foreign investee companies (separate booth for overseas startups)
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Play sponsor/LP/partner advertisement videos
Opening announcement
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SparkLabs Introduction Video: Vision (Change), Motto, and History
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CEO Keynote (English)
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Introducing the Sponsoring Companies
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New Business Introduction: Spark Biolabs Partners with Waycen in Saudi Arabia
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Paradigm shift & new ventures → ecommerce, AI/data, private credit fields
Investment company pitching
1.
PulseAd | PulseAd [AI, Ad Tech]: An Integrated E-Commerce Advertising Platform for Retail Sellers
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Investment round: Pre-A
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Amount: 2 billion won (Q4 2024)
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Homepage: www.pulsead.io
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A next-generation global AI retail media platform that attracted strategic investment from CJ ENM immediately after its founding, along with co-founders who exited ZigZag at a valuation of 1 trillion won, and achieved successes such as being selected as a TIPS and Amazon advertising technology partner.
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Note: Tips completed, value too high
2.
Stylemate | Stylemate [AI, Fashion Tech]: A content data-driven fashion tech platform.
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Investment Round: Seed
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Website: www.stylemate.co.kr
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A fashion marketing platform that received sole investment from Altos Ventures at the seed stage and serves over 3,000 fashion creators and 100 popular domestic brands.
3.
Databin | SmartBox [ESG, AI]: Immersion Cooling Solutions for Next-Generation Data Centers
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Investment round: Pre-A
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Website: www.databean.co.kr
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As the first company in Korea to possess immersion cooling technology and proven engineering services, we jointly developed the 'next-generation cooling system', a core infrastructure facility of Samsung C&T's data centers.
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Note: Tips selection completed, free trial closing
4.
Coupa | Edge [AI, Financials]: A startup providing AI-based financial data insights.
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Investment round: Pre-A
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Amount: 7 billion (25-year Series A)
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Website: www.kupa.ai
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An AI financial information platform for transparent investment information. It combines structured and unstructured data, analyzes it through AI verification and dynamic data mapping, and provides real-time updates.
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The second venture by the former co-founders of MangoPlate, selected as a TIPS (Top-in-the-Line) startup in August of this year, uses an AI-based web trading system to help investors quickly predict market changes.
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Note: A total of KRW 1.4 billion in investment has been raised, TIPS is underway / Closing is complete
5.
Draftype Studio [AI, Content]: A content creation startup based on custom model creation.
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Investment Round: Seed
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Amount: KRW 4 billion (Pre-A in the second half of 2025)
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Homepage: www.draftype.work
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SparkLabs has attracted seed investment from Bluepoint and is currently being used by over 3,500 brands across various fields, including fashion and beauty. It is an innovative advertising model strategy solution that reduces the cost of recruitment from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won to around 50,000 won per month.
6.
LICHE (Romad) | LICHE BNPL SaaS [Fin Tech]: A fintech startup offering a K-BNPL (long-term installment payment) payment solution.
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Investment round: Series A
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Amount: 6 billion
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Website: www.lomad.co.kr
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The company developed its own credit rating technology, a core technology for BNPL. The founder, a former game developer, leveraged his experience in game development, focusing on user-friendly UI/UX and detecting abnormal users.
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A fintech startup that has attracted a cumulative investment of KRW 6.8 billion from multiple strategic and financial investors, including KB Investment, achieved KRW 16.1 billion in sales within two years of service launch, completed the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' TIPS program, and developed its own integrated BNPL solution, leading the innovation and popularization of the Korean rental system.
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Note: TIPS project completed, total investment of KRW 6.8 billion secured
Visitor review
With a significant number of companies already secured investment, this pitching session served as a valuable opportunity to share the sales and investment performance of key companies selected. Furthermore, it provided a platform to share the reasons for selecting these companies, which have achieved "innovations" both large and small across various areas of technology and lifestyle, and to share SparkLabs' vision. Specifically, it was designed to showcase startups operating overseas and partners from the investment and industry sectors, making it a meaningful event that brought together diverse players in the domestic and international startup scene.
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