Retired Major League Baseball pitcher Park Chan-ho is hoping to have a good influence on the South Korean startup ecosystem and give back to society as a venture partner of Seoul-based global accelerator SparkLabs.“I’m glad I was given a chance to have a virtuous influence on startups,” Park said in a press conference on Wednesday. “Young entrepreneurs are brimming with passion and dreams. I think I can share with them my experience and know-how (as a former professional

YEOSU, South Jeolla Province -- For a startup to grow, entrepreneurs should learn how to hire decent staff and fire bad apples, said Han Kim, managing director of Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Altos Ventures on Friday.“When we decide to engage in a follow-up funding round for our portfolio startups, the most critical factor is the entrepreneur’s capability to bring in more talent, along with the courage to sack employees or board members who are unfit for our goals,&

S.M. Entertainment, South Korea’s largest K-pop powerhouse by market cap, is at a crossroads having to decide on taking action ahead of a deadline issued by an activist investor to merge with another firm owned by founder and Executive Producer Lee Soo-man.S.M. must respond by Thursday to these and other demands by KB Asset Management, which has publicly called on Like Agency -- a private company owned by Lee -- to be merged with the entertainment firm in order to keep intact the corp

HO CHI MINH, Vietnam -- In Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, investors have been searching for ways to hedge risks in times of equity market volatility. Last year, the benchmark index on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (Hose) slipped 9.3 percent, while that of the development board fell 10.8 percent.One alternative they found was the derivatives market. Among the many instruments, they pounced on covered warrants -- a publicly traded product that allows investors to make lev

DAEJEON -- Startups from across South Korea, global startup community leaders and representatives of Daejeon Metropolitan City flocked to Daejeon Convention Center Thursday to mark the end of the three-day Exit Daejeon 2019 event. Located some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, Daejeon served as a venue where local startups were given an opportunity for more international exposure. In the meantime, global startup community organizers like Slush and Junction, as well as early-stage startup investors

DAEJEON -- All eyes are on Daejeon, South Korea’s fifth-largest metropolitan city, as it moves to put together leaders of the global startup community through Exit Daejeon 2019.The three-day conference, also known as Global Startup Festival Daejeon, kicked off at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Daejeon Convention Center, hosting some 300 participants in this city some 140 kilometers south of Seoul.“Here in Daejeon, we have a wonderful set of communities already in place with the best universities based in

Cyril Ebersweiler, the founder and managing director of hardware accelerator HAX, is out to create a startup-driven hardware renaissance. And in his view, Korea has much potential. “We’ve been quite familiar with the Korean ecosystem and did a few investments there. I think it’s one of the most dynamic ecosystems in the world, and it is doing better than some of its Asia counterparts, while providing a decent market locally for Korean companies as well as quality manufacturing,” said Ebersweiler

South Korea’s fifth-largest metropolitan city is poised to host the Global Startup Festival Daejeon 2019 from Tuesday through Thursday as part of its efforts to become a global hub for startup-driven innovation. The three-day Exit Daejeon 2019 event will take place at Daejeon Convention Center. It is co-sponsored by Daejeon Metropolitan City, Herald Corp., Daejeon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and CEO Clubs Korea.The conference is expected to host 300 participants, including SME and S

BANGKOK -- When Kulina launched its algorithm-powered online marketplace in Indonesia in 2016, there were high hopes that the startup could address the country‘s chronic last-mile logistics conundrum, while at the same time providing home-cooked meals at an affordable price,However, the startup soon ran into trouble.To turn the business around, Bangkok-born, US-educated Casper Sermsuksan rolled up his sleeves to add diversity to Kulina’s business model. During the process, he managed

Two Seoul-based private equity firms have been selected as the most preferred bidders for the respective acquisition of South Korean-Japanese conglomerate Lotte Group’s nonbanking financial arms Lotte Non-Life Insurance and Lotte Card, according to industry sources on May 3. South Korean PEF Hahn & Co. was the surprising pick for Lotte Card, topping other banking group rivals such as Hana Financial Group and Woori Financial Group-MBK Partners consortium. Hahn & Co. has reportedly v

Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center plans to launch operations in South Korea by the first half of 2020, according to company officals.Despite the rapid growth in Korea’s startup ecosystem, Plug and Play, which is widening its presence in Asia -- with offices in China’s eight cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Tokyo, Jakarta and Singapore -- has not yet started an office here.“(Plug and Play Tech Center) is preparing to launch in Korea between the fo

Venture capitalists in the global startup scene have to pay a hefty price -- hundreds of millions of dollars -- to take part in a later-stage round of investment. In South Korea, one of the nations riding the up cycle in the startup ecosystem, domestic venture investment in startups has mainly been concentrated in small- and midsized investment rounds with a risk-averse stance. Startups lose out on early-stage seed funding and larger-scale investment rounds.Now, the Korean government appears to

Seoul-based media giant CJ ENM reiterated April 17 that it is not taking an acquisition of Dexter Studios into consideration, months after a previous denial in January. “(CJ ENM) is not pursuing an acquisition of Dexter Studios,” CJ ENM said in a regulatory filing April 17. “But (CJ ENM) is taking many options, from financial investment to strategic partnership, into account to strengthen contents production capacity (with Dexter Studios) for TV series and films.”Dexter Studios also said in a fi

Shinhan Futures Lab, a South Korean innovation hub owned by Shinhan Financial Group, said on April 11 it is poised to ramp up support for startups by teaming up with Korean fund of funds management firm Korea Growth Investment Corp. Shinhan Financial has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-led FOF manager, also known as K-Growth, to foster investments in startups dedicated to fintech, according to the banking group.Under the agreement, the two will share information about fintech

Debt-ridden Kumho Asiana Group called on its creditors to inject 500 billion won ($439.17 million) to address its liquidity crisis through a business revamp plan it submitted to the state-led Korea Development Bank, according to the KDB on April 10. Ex-chairman of Kumho Asiana Park Sam-kooRelated:Kumho Asiana creditors demand asset sell-off, solid loan repayment planCorrected audit report weighs on Asiana AirlinesIn the recovery plan, submitted April 9, the family-owned conglomerate agreed to se

Real-time in-app digital messaging is increasingly becoming the norm. On-demand mobility app users can exchange text messages with drivers to get a ride to deliver food. While watching live-streamed videos of a sports game, you can also send cheers or share thoughts about an athlete or a team. Couples, meanwhile, can enjoy private conversations on dating apps. Those buying a product online can place an inquiry directly to sellers on an e-commerce platforms, while sellers can interact with thousa

For decades, lawyer Yoon Hee-woong has built his career providing legal advice for corporations. Since joining the South Korean law firm Yulchon in 2000, he has been paving the way for large business groups to take over financial companies, especially in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2007-2008.A big deal he helped close in 2007 was retail giant Lotte’s purchase of Daehan Fire & Marine Insurance. A year later, Yoon was involved in Hyundai Motor’s takeover of Shinheung

LG Electronics CEO Jo Seong-jin recently conceded that as a newcomer in the mergers and acquisitions market in 2015, the firm had a tough time acquiring a stake in family-owned Austrian headlight maker ZKW Group. After years of negotiations, the tech giant and its holding firm LG Corp. were finally able to purchase shares worth 1.1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in April 2018. It marked the largest acquisition in its 70-year history. Before that, it was focusing on research and development. (Hera

South Korea is riding the global trend of high liquidity in the startup scene. Money is pouring into the sector, and investors are looking for the next big thing to invest in. However, concerns linger that the upcycle is being maintained by government spending, and not a real appetite for startups.   In 2018, venture capital investment surged 43.9 percent on-year to 3.4 trillion won ($3 billion), according to latest data by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. However, of that amount, 20 percent a

The thick glass ceiling in the finance industry of South Korea got a few more cracks in the last month, with the latest reshuffles in the country’s leading banking and securities brokerage companies having nominated women leaders to the top posts.The nomination of Park Jeong-rim as the co-CEO of KB Securities on Dec. 19 marked another leap forward, as she is set to become the first female CEO of a brokerage firm in Korea. Her nomination awaits approval in the upcoming general shareholders&