THE INVESTOR

▶주메뉴 바로가기

▶본문 바로가기

The Korea Herald

MOBILE

Startups

July 31, 2026
Chip rally sends Kospi up 17% past 6,500

Seoul stocks surged by nearly 17 percent Friday morning, as strong gains in chip shares lifted the Kospi nearly 1,000 points and back above the 6,500 threshold. As of 10:20 a.m., the Kospi was trading 16.8 percent higher at 6,530 points, after hitting an intraday high of 6,548.64, up 17 percent, only minutes earlier. The benchmark opened 1.15 percent higher at 5,657.79, before rapidly advancing. A buy-side sidecar was activated at 9:06 a.m., suspending program trading for five minutes. A similar
July 6, 2026
Korea raises shareholder hurdle for parent-backed subsidiary IPOs

The Financial Services Commission and the Korea Exchange on Monday unveiled draft guidelines that would make it harder for listed parent companies to pursue dual listings by separately listing subsidiaries. The move is aimed at strengthening minority shareholder protections and tackling the so-called Korea discount: Reforms would lengthen the IPO process and require parent companies to demonstrate that a subsidiary listing enhances, rather than undermines, shareholder value. The FSC said it rede
July 6, 2026
Zeekr's 7X surpasses 1,000 units in presale in Korea

Pre-orders for Chinese electric vehicle brand Zeekr’s mid-sized SUV 7X have surpassed 1,000 units in Korea within a month, Zeekr Korea said Monday. Presales began on June 5 at the brand’s nine physical locations across Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Daejeon and Busan, drawing strong interest. The vehicle was launched in three trims — Pro (rear-wheel drive), Max (rear-wheel drive) and Ultra (all-wheel drive) — with each priced at 52.99 million won ($35,000), 59.99 million won, and 69.99 million won. T
June 15, 2026
Innocean, SBVA launch startup growth platform

Innocean, the advertising and marketing arm of Hyundai Motor Group, said Monday it is partnering with venture capital firm SBVA to launch UP 2026, a growth platform designed to foster collaboration with high-growth startups and identify new business opportunities. SBVA, formerly known as SoftBank Ventures Asia, is a global venture capital firm affiliated with SoftBank Group. The firm invests in more than 100 startups across sectors including artificial intelligence, internet of things, and robot
April 2, 2026
GS Group taps AI startups to accelerate digital transformation

GS Group said Thursday it held a tech collaboration event with AI startups at GS Tower in Gangnam, Seoul, as it looks to accelerate digital transformation and expand into emerging technologies. Chairman Huh Tae-soo and senior executives were joined by CEOs and business heads from 17 portfolio companies, who showcased their core technologies. The startups were sourced through GS Group’s venture arms, GS Futures and GS Ventures. The lineup included 11 companies backed by GS Futures — such as AMESA
March 31, 2026
Rebellions secures W640b pre-IPO funding

Rebellions said Tuesday it has secured 640 billion won ($419 million) in pre-IPO funding, marking the first investment under the government-backed National Growth Fund. The round combines public and private capital: 300 billion won comes from policy financing, including 250 billion won from the National Growth Fund and 50 billion won from the Korea Development Bank. Another 300 billion won comes from Mirae Asset Financial Group, the anchor investor. The deal is the first step in the government’s
Jan. 29, 2026
AI startup Upstage to acquire Daum operator AXZ for Korean training data

Korean AI startup Upstage has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire AXZ, the operator of the nation's once-dominant internet portal Daum, from Kakao in a share swap deal aimed at converting decades of user-generated content into raw material to train large language models. The nonbinding memorandum of understanding, approved by both boards Thursday, values the deal at approximately 200 billion won ($140 million), according to investment banking sources. While full terms are still under negot
Jan. 19, 2026
Autonomous A2Z jumps to No. 7 in global autonomous driving rankings

Autonomous A2Z has ranked seventh globally in Guidehouse Research’s Automated Driving Systems Leaderboard, marking its highest position to date, the autonomous driving startup said Monday. Guidehouse, a global market consultancy spun off from PwC, has published the world’s only autonomous driving rankings since 2015, evaluating companies on strategy and execution. Autonomous A2Z first entered the leaderboard in 2023 at No. 13, rose to No. 11 in 2024 and then jumped to No. 7, making it the only K
Jan. 15, 2026
Zeta gains traction in Japan, eyes US expansion

Zeta, a Korean AI storytelling app developed by Seoul-based startup Scatter Lab, has rapidly gained traction in Japan and is now entering the US market through a closed beta. The app ranked No. 1 among artificial intelligence entertainment platforms in Japan across daily, weekly and monthly active user metrics last month, according to analytics firm App Ape. Launched in April 2024, Zeta allows users to co-create fictional narratives with AI-generated characters. The platform has attracted a youn
Dec. 16, 2025
Rebellions bets on non-Nvidia future for global AI infrastructure

Rebellions, South Korea’s first AI semiconductor unicorn, said it aims to lead the creation of a “non-Nvidia” AI ecosystem, positioning itself as a core player in next-generation AI infrastructure. “The next five years will be about building a new AI infrastructure system centered on alternatives to Nvidia,” CEO Park Sung-hyun said at a press conference in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. “Rebellions intends to be at the forefront of that shift.” Park stressed that artificial intelligence infrastruc

1
2

EDITOR'S PICKS

Herald Corporation |CEO : Choi Jin-Young |Huam-ro 4-gil 10, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea |Title : The Investor |Date of registration : 2016.06.21 |Date of issue : 2016.06.21
Publisher. Editor : Choi Jin-Young |Chief Privacy Officer & Juvenile Protection Manager : Choi He-suk |T +82-2-727-0021 |E investor@heraldcorp.com

FAMILY SITE GO

Company Registration No. 104-81-06004 |Mail-Order Business Registration 2016 - Seoul Yongsan - 00590 |Business info |Gov’t registration No. Seoul 아04099