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Aroundus launches job-searching service for freelancers, students
Korean startup Aroundus has rolled out an eponymous website for the talented, but often underrepresented in the job market, namely students and freelancers.The job-searching service is roughly tailored after existing platforms such as LinkedIn, but the similarities stop at the surface, according to founder and CEO Dan...
Lunit gets New Zealand court's preliminary approval on acquisition of Volpara Health
Lunit, a South Korean medical artificial intelligence (AI) startup, said Wednesday it has secured preliminary approval from a New Zealand high court for the acquisition of an Oceania-based breast cancer solution firm, Volpara Health Ltd. With the high court's approval, Volpara Health will hold a general shareholders' meeting on April 12 to vote on Lunit's plan to take over the company, according to the Korean company. Last year, Lunit signed a deal to acquire Volpara for $193.1 million in a bi
Airbnb fined, ordered corrective measures in S. Korea over unfair biz practices
South Korea's antitrust regulator announced a decision Monday to impose a fine and corrective measures on Airbnb Ireland UC for its failure to properly verify information of short-term rental hosts for customers. The home rental platform was fined 500,000 won ($379.6) for the violation of the country's electronic commerce act as it simply provided information about rental hosts just as they have uploaded without due verification procedures, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Airbnb
Woowa Brothers' founder joins super wealthy donation campaign
Kim Bong-jin, the founder and chairman of a local delivery app operator Woowa Brothers, on February 18 joined the bandwagon of South Korea‘s self-made and young rich donating substantial amounts of their assets to society. Kim said he and his wife have joined The Giving Pledge, a global campaign of the world‘s wealthiest people contributing a majority of their assets to philanthropic projects, and that they would donate a half of their wealth in their lifetime, according to the co
Hyperconnect deal hints at record year for Korean VCs
Korea’s venture capital firms are expected to see another strong year, following a record performance in 2020, amid a rise in the valuations of domestic startups and increased options for an investment exit. Hyperconnect, the operator of the video chatting app Azar, last week signed a deal to sell to Match Group, a US tech company that owns a slew of dating apps including Tinder and OkCupid. The deal valued at $1.7 billion will bestow handsome returns to domestic venture capital firms li
Korean venture capital E& leads merger of clinical stage biotech firms
E& Investment, a South Korean venture capital that specializes in the bio and health care sectors, said Thursday that NeuroBo Pharmaceutical, in which the company owns a 40 percent stake, had acquired a US COVID-19 treatment developer. NeuroBo, a Nasdaq-listed clinical-stage biotechnology company, on Dec. 31 acquired ANA Therapeutics, which is developing a treatment for COVID-19 that is currently in phase two and three clinical trials. “This is an exciting and transformative
Fintech startup Qarasoft raises $3M in series A funding
QARA Soft, a South Korean fintech startup, said Nov. 24 that it has raised $3 million from Mirae Asset, Naver, Nexon’s NXC and Kinsley Asset Management in its Series A funding round. QARA, founded in 2014, provides a robo-adviser solution called Market Dreamer to a slew of local financial firms, including KB Asset Management, KB Kookmin Bank, Hanwha Asset Management and Mirae Asset. QARA specializes in AI deep learning technology and provides customized investment analysis to asset man
Home interior platform Ohouse raises $70m
Bucketplace, which operates interior decor platform Ohouse, raised $70 million in its Series C funding round, the South Korean startup announced on Nov. 23. With the latest fundraising, the company has raised a total of 88 billion won ($79.15 million) in investment. The latest funding round was led by BOND Capital, a California-based venture capital specialized in technology investment, and joined by existing investors, IMM Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital and Na
Toss to launch brokerage unit next year, targeting 20s, 30s
South Korea’s leading fintech startup Viva Republica is set to launch a mobile brokerage unit in the first half of next year as it received operational approval from the financial regulator. Named Toss Securities, the envisioned brokerage is the first local securities firm to be set up in 12 years. IBK Securities and KTB Investment & Securities were so far the last two that jumped into the market in 2008. Toss Securities aims to offer brokerage services for the local stocks first