In 2016, Chinese mobile payment systems, such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, reached approximately $2.9 trillion annual transaction volume. The annual transaction increased by twenty-fold within…
Author – Joyce Yeo
Maptales: New Way to Remember Your Vacation
On April 14th, Thumb Initial, a mobile application development company, announced the launch of ‘Maptales,’ an app that creates travel roadmap with selected photos from vacations. With…
Korean Government Partners with Facebook to Help VR•AR Startups Go Global
On April 4th, Facebook agreed to partner with Korea Innovation Center (KIC hereafter) and Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion (IITP hereafter) to help Korean…
Naver vs. SK vs. Kakao: Who’s the Winner?
Competition among various apps in regard to travel such as map, navigation, public transportation and car maintenance, has been fierce among many Korean IT companies, including Naver, SK…
First Question to Ask a Chinese Investor
On February 28th, the first session of “Uprise Global Startup Forum: China” was held in Dongdaemun DDP to share the experiences of international startup experts. In this first session…
Intel Buys Mobileye for $15.3 B to Enter the Self-Driving Car Industry
Intel acquired an Israeli self-driving car camera company Mobileye for $15.3 Billion. According to Reuters and other major international news agencies, the acquisition bid is approximately…
Korea x UK: Startups Get Together at Hyundai Card Studio Black
On February 20th, 13 different startups from Korea and the United Kingdom gathered for the KOR-UK startup co-pitching event at Studio Black, Hyundai Card’s co-working space. Co-hosted by…
ST Unitas Acquires the Princeton Review
During the press conference at Conrad Hotel in Seoul on the 14th, ST Unitas announced to acquire the Princeton Review. Founded in April, 2010, ST Unitas has been well received in Korea…
BFLIX, the next Netflix?
Zetta Media announced on February 6th that BFLIX, its movie streaming service, reached over 50K downloads. Google Android users made up 80% of the downloads, while the remaining 20% were…
The Clozet: Share 2, and Enjoy 3 Free Designer Bags per Month
The Clozet Company launched “My Bag Sharing” service on January 25th. My Bag Sharing is a new service that combines its existing monthly subscription and P2P sharing service, allowing…
MoneyBrain Launches Food Delivery Chatbot “YumYum”
MoneyBrain launched artificial intelligence food delivery chatbot service “YumYum” on November 17th. By simply adding “DeliveryBot YumYum” as a friend on Kakaotalk, Naver Line, and…
[Pioneers Asia] Interview With Brian Wong, Founder/CEO of Kiip, a mobile advertising network Startup
Pioneers Asia was the 3-day startup event hosted in ToKyo, Japan on MARCH 23. The event welcomed 1200 leaders and innovators, entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalists in a dynamic…
History-Making Go Competition To Take Place in Seoul
Google and Korean Baduk (Chinese Go) Association (KBA) today held the “Google Deepmind Challenge Match Press Briefing” to announce the details on the upcoming games between Sedol Lee…
Pikicast App Breaks 100K Downloads in Taiwan
On February 19, mobile contents platform Pikicast has announced it broke 100K mobile app downloads just within 4 months of its launch in Taiwan last October. Pikicast, a mobile contents…
“Kakao Hair Shop” to be launched the first half of 2016
Kakao (C.E.O: Jihoon Lim) is releasing a mobile hair salon reservation service app, Kakao Hair Shop, that allows users to search hair salons, make a reservation and process the payment, in…
Google Campus Seoul Releases 2015 Annual Report
Google Campus Seoul (Campus Seoul hereafter) published “Campus Seoul 2015 Annual Report” in welcoming its 9th month of inauguration. A physical space created by Google, Campus Seoul…
Strategy Needed to Secure Global Patents : Self-Driving Cars
The era of “self-driving cars” has come, where cars are capable of driving themselves to selected destinations without putting the stress on drivers to navigate through traffic…
Business Card App “Remember” Launches Exchange Feature
Drama & Company, the developer of business card application ‘Remember,’ announced ‘Business Card Exchange Room’ feature on December 1st. ‘Business Card Exchange Room’…
Zikto Signs MOU with Samsung C&T
Healthcare Startup ‘Zikto’ (CEO: Kyung Tae Kim) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Samsung C&T on November 17th to enter the fashion market with its wearable band. With this…
Wearable Startup Zikto Wins Silver Award At 2015 Design for Asia Award
Wearable startup ‘Zikto’ (CEO: Kyung Tae Kim) won Silver Award at 2015 Design For Asia Award (DFAA) with its gait correcting smartband Zikto Walk. DFAA, hosted by Hong Kong Special…