A crash course on Korean Startup Ecosystem based on a presentation given on Startup Korea Roundtable event held at D.CAMP on 28 April, 2015.(For any errors or correction request, please contact hahn.ryu@dcamp.kr. Special thanks to Startup Alliance and G3Partners.

1. (v0.5_20052015)
A 15 MINUTES CRASH COURSE ON

2. A Country Overview
TRANSFORMING KOREA1
An Introduction to Korean Startup Ecosystem
CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION IN KOREAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM2
TABLE OF CONTENT
To Connect Startup Ecosystems
WHAT KOREAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM MEANS TO YOU3

3. A Country Overview
TRANSFORMING KOREA

4. 24%of California
423,970km² vs 99,678 km²
3.9%of China
13.5B vs 500M
65years
in state-of-war
ever since 1950
vs North Korea
Some basic facts about Korea…

5. GANGNAM 1953 GANGNAM 2015
$1.3B GDP
$67 Per Capita Income
$1778B GDP
$28,100 Per Capita Income
Miracle of Han River

6. South Korea achieved a market
economy that ranks 13th in the world
by nominal GDP and 13th by
purchasing power parity (PPP).
One of the Major Economies in the World..
* Source: International Monetary Fund (2014)

7. South Korea is the only country
in the world whose entire population
can access 4G connectivity.
The World’s Most Wired Country
Smartphone penetration (% of pop.)
79.5% (42.5% in 2011)
LTE Penetration (% of pop.)
68.8%
Average mobile connection speed
15.2 Mbps
Projected mobile economics by 2017
$40B ($27B in 2013, 2% of GDP)
* Source: NCTA (2014)
* Mobile connection speed in the US: 9.8Mbps

8. 10 Korean unicorns since dotcom bubble…
* Source: Venture Beat, 2014
“10 companies belong to what
we call the “Korean Unicorn
Club” (by our definition,
Korean software companies
valued at over $1B by public or
private market investors””
John Nahm
Partner at Strong Ventures

9. The report focused on six tangible
activities that contribute to
innovation, including the number of
high-tech companies, R&D
expenditure per capita, gross value
added by manufacturing, the number
of patents and research personnel
per capita and post-secondary
education levels.
The most innovate country
“South Korea tops this year's overall ranking.”
* Source: 2015 Global Innovation Index by Bloomberg

10. Koreans are the most widespread people, with more than 7.3
million residing in 180countries in every corner of the world.
With the most wide-spread network of diaspora
* Source: Overseas Korean Foundation
** Israel has 7.3 million overseas population in 100 Countries and China has 45.4 million in 130 Countries

11. # of Students studying in U.S and China
Korea marks the 3rd place
in # of students studying abroad in the U.S
following China & India
Korea marks the 1st place
in # of students studying abroad China
Followed by the U.S and Thailand
* Source: 2015 Institute of International Education

12. An Introduction to Korean Startup Ecosystem
CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION
IN KOREAN
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

13. In an effort to generate new sources of economic growth through
the Creative Economy initiative, President Park Geun-hye created:
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning
Government in Action
MSIP budget increase in 2015
$13B in 2014 ▶ $14B in 2015 (4.8%)

14. Innovation centers for
creative industries will be
established in 17 major cities
across the country in a bid to
quickly develop those
industries.
Government in Action

15. Government in Action
Under the Creative Economy Initiative,
public sector is fostering an
environment where venture firms can
flourish by expanding financial
support for innovative start-ups.
A "negative system" and the "sunset rule" applied
in principle to all new regulations beginning in April 2014.
700 regulations were repealed or improved out of 3100 by
Financial Service Committee.
Deregulation
Research Society for Teachers in Software
Education established by Ministry of Science, ICT and
Future Planning & Korea Foundation for the Advancement
of Society and Creativity.
SW Education
To stimulate investment in startups the Growth Ladder
Fund raised $2.4B to finance startups. The number of
KOSDAQ & KONEX-listed companies surged to 104 in
2014 from 21 in 2012. (Invested $280M in 52 companies in 2014)
Capital Injection

16. Emerging Startup Ecosystem in Gangnam
March 2013 April 2014 April 2015March 2014

17. 23+ Accelerators
22+ Local VCs
5+ Corporate VCs
4+ Overseas VCs
23+ Government
departments, institutions
17 Creative Economy Centers
6+ Events & Networks
4+ Startup media
4+ consulting firms
3+ Major
Coworking Space &
Incubators
* Source:

18. Emerging Startup Ecosystem in Gangnam
More than 30% of startups registered at
Rocket Punch are located in Gangnam.
Imitating Silicon Valley, a media playfully
named the area “Seolleung-con Valley.” Most
active accelerators, co-working spaces and
startups are located nearby Seolleung and
Teheran-ro, the main area of Gangnam.
* Source: Rocket Punch

19. And it is increasingly globalized
$400M
$100M
$100M
Acq’d @$40M
Raising $15M(Kimchi Fund) Raised $100M
$36M
Acq’d @$40M
“There is a growing interest from
overseas VCs in the South Korean venture
ecosystem as well as a rise of angel
groups, accelerators and event
organizations to promote
entrepreneurship in Korea.”
“Gangnam Becomes Hot Spot for Korean
Startups…Gangnam has a special
significance in South Korea as the place
where a globalized youth culture
emerged from a generation that had
opportunities to travel and study abroad.
The present day Gangnam is still seen as
the place that brings foreign culture and
ideas to the rest of the country.”

20. Successful entrepreneurs becoming angel or VCs
BG Chang
Founder, Neowiz
$470M
Douglas Guen
Founder, Inicis
$640M
Taekkyung Lee
Co-Founder, Daum
$6.6B
Junghee Ryu
Founder, Olaworks
$35M
Beom-soo Kim
Founder, Kakao
$6.6B
Jiwon Moon & Changseong Ho
Founder, Viki
$220M

21. And a Cultural Shift…
Undergrad’s preference for their first job
Students Parents
Startup / Venture
Big Companies
Public Company
Foreign Company
Public Official
* According to a survey on 575 undergrads & job seekers by Job Korea
More bright young Koreans who used to
think working as lawyers/doctors
venture themselves for startups.
2nd Generation Korean and those talents
who studied in the top U.S schools are
coming back to Korea to embark on their
own businesses.

22. To Connect Startup Ecosystems
WHAT KOREAN
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM
MEANS TO YOU

23. What Korean Startup Ecosystem has to offer?
“Korea is a unique market where over 90 percent of users access Facebook
through smartphones. Facebook has also recently partnered with the
nation’s automobile manufacturer Kia Motors to increase the social
experience for passengers in their vehicles. This makes Korea an important
test bed to Facebook wishing to be a mobile-first company.”
- Benjamin Joe, Head of Facebook Korea
“What can be achieved in two years in Taiwan can be achieved in just 6
months in Korea”
- Terry Gou, Chairman of Foxconn
“Two of the top three games in China are Korean exports –
Smilegate’s Crossfire and Nexon’s Dungeon Fighter. Crossfire earned
almost $1B last year in China”
- Tech in Asia

24. Let’s connect the dots!
BRIDGE
Host a Korean delegate of entrepreneurs & VCs in your city!
Send your delegate of VCs and entrepreneurs to Korea!
“A presence in South Korea is
indispensable for truly global
brands and could in fact
constitute an excellent
launching pad to reach the
Chinese and Japanese markets.”
Jean–Jacques Grauhar
former Secretary General
EU Chamber of Commerce

25. Thank you!
HAHN RYU
Business Manager, D.CAMP
hahn.ryu@dcamp.kr