Startup news june 11 2014
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Startup News Korea Nathan Millard Director, beSUCCESS (June 11 2014)
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Korean Startup News update from Nathan Millard, Director at beSUCCESS (www.betech.asia) This week focussing on the impact of two major milestones for Korean startups (Kakao-Daum Merger & Coupang's $100M investment from Sequoia)
Transcript of Startup news june 11 2014
Startup NewsKorea
Nathan MillardDirector, beSUCCESS
(June 11 2014)
The Formation of Two Korean Unicorns
May 2014: Kakao merges with Daum to become a $3Bn Corporation
May 2014: Coupang raises $100M from Sequoia Capital to become a $1Bn ‘startup’
The Kakao Story
Founded in 2010 by co-founder of NHNDeveloped messaging service after 52 attemptsMonetized in July 2012 with Kakao GamesGrew to 140M users by early 2014Struggling to maintain sustained global growthPlanned IPO in May 2015Merged with Daum in June 2014
The Coupang Story
Founded in 2010 by Harvard Business School dropout (Bom Kim)Developed daily deals site (like Groupon)
Quickly diversified to physical goodsAchieved $650M revenue in 2013
Plans to IPO in US in 2015Raised $100M from Sequoia in May 2014
Now more like Amazon than Groupon
The Impact
Korea arriving at phase 2 of 3, in terms in startup ecosystem development
• Phase 1: Ecosystem building• Phase 2: Exits• Phase 3: Sustainable ecosystem growth
Image: Forbes
What this means
Korean entrepreneurship will continue to grow into the future
Foreign eyes will increasingly turn to Korea (VCs, Partners, Media, etc.)
Those involved now have the chance of catching the ‘rising tide’
Please contact me for more information
Nathan on [email protected]
Blog: betech.asia
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