The Latest from Kate Park
Energy X secures $20M at $120M valuation to slash building sector emissions
Countries worldwide have pledged to reduce their energy usage and reach net-zero energy targets by 2050. To get there, they will need to find clever ways to decarbonize especially dirty businesses, in
Quantum sensing startup Q-CTRL raises another $27.4M
Two quantum-adjacent technologies — quantum sensing (QS) and quantum communication (Qcomm) — are as important as quantum computing hardware itself since they help make quantum computers fu
Japan’s Terra Drone gets $14M lift from Saudi investors
Terra Drone said today it has raised $14 million in Series C funding from Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, marking the VC firm’s first investment in Asia. The Jap
Chemical giant Denka dives into VC with $100M fund managed by Pegasus Tech Ventures
Pegasus Tech Ventures, a Silicon Valley-headquartered venture capital firm that helps corporations invest in startups, said it has set up a $100 million fund with Japanese chemical and life science co
Can Korean digital storytelling platforms captivate North American and European audiences?
Korean storytelling companies want to kindle the popularity of webtoons and web novels in the West on the back of their success in East Asia.
P2P lending platform PeopleFund raises $20M Series C extension led by Bain Capital
PeopleFund, a South Korean marketplace that connects borrowers and investors to enable lending, has recently added $20 million to its $63.4 million Series C. Existing backer Bain Capital led the exten
Kakao Entertainment lands $966M from sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia’s PIF
Kakao Entertainment announced today it has raised $966 million (1.2 trillion won) in financing from sovereign wealth funds, such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Singapore-base
Korean handmade goods marketplace Backpackr gears up to expand into Southeast Asia
About a decade ago, Donghwan Kim helped his cousin, a ceramist, look for sales channels, like flea markets, to sell his ceramics. But they had a hard time locating a suitable platform, so after about
Samsung’s quarterly profit hits 8-year low amid weak demand for memory chips, smartphones
Samsung Electronics’ operating profit plummeted 69% to $3.4 billion in the quarter that ended in December to an eight-year low, according to its preliminary estimates, as the global demand for m
Online grocery startup Kurly scraps IPO amid market uncertainty
Kurly, a South Korean startup that provides next-day grocery delivery service, just announced that it has called off its plan to go public amid worsening economic situations that have put startupsR
South Korean financial super app Toss closes $405M Series G as valuation rises 7%
Viva Republica, an operator of South Korean finance super app Toss, has finalized a $405 million Series G funding and it says it is now valued at 9.1 trillion won ($7 billion), up from 8.5 trillion w
Plugo, an e-commerce support platform for D2C brands in Southeast Asia, picks up $9M Series A
Singapore-headquartered startup Plugo has secured $9 million in a Series A funding round. The company offers a complete spectrum of e-commerce support services for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, fro
Japan’s health tech Ubie wants to fuel its US expansion with $19M Series C extension
Ubie, a Tokyo-based startup providing an AI-powered symptom checker app and hospital SaaS products, has closed a $19 million extension to its previous Series C round. This brings the health tech start
Akros Technologies, an AI-powered asset management platform, raises funding from Z Holdings
Artificial intelligence is taking over almost every industry. The investment and finance industry is no exception. In Deloitte’s 2019 report, the firm reveals that AI is transforming the financi
Seoul court rejects warrants for former Terraform Labs employees and investors over Luna collapse
A Seoul court rejected a request from prosecutors for warrants to detain eight people related to Terraform Labs, including the co-founder of Terraform Labs, Daniel Shin, early investors and former eng
Singapore-based e-commerce platform Carousell lays off 10% of staff
Carousell, a Singaporean consumer-to-consumer (C2C) service platform operating across Southeast Asia, is letting go of about 110 employees, or 10% of its total headcount, in an effort to reduce costs
Shield, a communication compliance platform for financial institutions, raises $20M
Two months ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it had fined 16 Wall Street firms more than $1.1 billion for “widespread recordkeeping failures” regarding maintaining ele
South Korean prosecutors seek arrest warrants for Terraform Labs co-founder, investors and engineers
South Korean prosecutors said Wednesday they have requested arrest warrants for eight people related to Terraform Labs for the alleged fraud as the local authorities widen their investigation into the
South Korean financial regulator confirms it is reviewing Apple Pay service for launch
Apple is poised to launch its Apple Pay service in South Korea, one of the fastest-growing countries in the world for cashless services, yet as of right now untapped by both Apple and the other
SoftBank-backed on-demand laundry startup Laundrygo picks up $37M Series C
Mom-and-pop stores and franchises — mostly offline — account for about 95% of the laundry market in South Korea, according to Laundrygo CEO Sung-woo Cho. But his South Korea–headquartered st