When people think of Korea, many think of conglomerates like Samsung and LG, and the “Salary-man” who work tirelessly into the night to make these companies global household brands. Many also associate Korea with a crazy drinking culture with people drinking all night and going right back to work (Korea consumes the most shots of liquor per week on average). Many of these stereotypical associations with Korea are still valid. Most people, however, do not associate Korea with “startups.” Recently, for those in the tech industry, Korea has started becoming associated with “startups.” Some even call Korea the “Startup hub” of Asia.
Korea has one of the best technical infrastructures in the world. In Korea, people can get connected anywhere; people can get connected at the top of ski slopes, subway stations, and even inside a running subway. The speed of connection is just absolutely amazing on connected LAN, wireless, and mobile.
Korea has a highly educated population (population with college degrees 80%), and many are early adopters who are not afraid of trying new technology. With mobile penetration rate of 70%, Korea is indeed perfect for mobile service launch pad.
On top of the amazing infrastructure and a highly educated, tech-savvy population, the Korean government, under President Park, is fully committed to building a startup community. President Park has declared “Changjo Gyungjae,” or Creative Economy to support, nurture, and grow startups in Korea. The government is helping startups from providing free (or very cheap) offices, mentorship, to even funding those companies with a great chance of making an impact.
Government is not the only one committed to building up a startup community. Handful of incubators and accelerators such as SparkLabs, KStartup, and FT Accelerator were recently founded by successful entrepreneurs. These accelerators, along with domestic and global VCs are also committed to identifying, mentoring, nurturing, and funding early stage startups. Yogiyo, a food delivery platform, recently received $14M in funding from Insight Venture Partners.
Most importantly, startup success stories such as Kakao’s $3B exit to Daum Communications, Coupang’s $100M investments from Sequoia, and TicketMonster’s $260M exit to LivingSocial, are creating a cultural shift in Korea. Other Korean startups such as memebox, 5rocks, Watcha, or Between have received their funding from VCs of amounts exceeding $2.5M and are showing explosive growth, some successfully growing beyond Korea into global markets.
People are beginning to see that startups are viable, realistic career option. People from top consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG are giving up their high-paying prestigious jobs and are successfully making their transitions to the startup industry. Employees of Korean conglomerates are leaving their safe jobs to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Students from top universities are considering startups, or even starting their own.
Korea is in the middle of this cultural shift, a historic moment in time. Korea’s world-class technical infrastructure along with the boost from the Park administration, global VCs, and changes in perception towards startups all collaborate to make Korea an ideal place for entrepreneurs.
Seoul Chapter of Startup Grind can help these new entrepreneurs learn from other successful entrepreneurs through cozy fire-side chats. These monthly events can help these fledgling entrepreneurs learn to avoid the typical pitfalls, network with other entrepreneurs, and learn best practices. Let’s make history together and join our first event. Our event will be held on August 26 with our first speaker, John Hanjoo Lee, a co-founder of the SparkLabs Accelerator.