Korean startup ecosystem saw quite some ups and downs last week with acquisitions, IPOs and joint efforts. Supermarket giant GS Retail -led consortium acquired Yogiyo, the second most popular food delivery app in Korea and SK Telecom and Kakao set up funds for ESG startups.
There was much talk about PUBG creator Krafton’s public issue, but it failed to gain a reasonable price when it debuted on KOSPI the previous week. EdTech startup Riiid forms an alliance with DCtera at the ASU+GSV Summit, and global early-stage venture capital firm Anter Global is looking to invest in 100 Korean startups.
GS Retail-led consortium acquires No. 2 delivery app, Yogiyo
Source: The Korea Herald
A consortium led by GS Retail Co., the supermarket operating unit of GS Group, has acquired Yogiyo, the No. 2 online food delivery app in South Korea, for 800 billion won ($684.3 million), the retailer said Friday. The consortium, including Affinity Equity Partners and Permira, has reached the deal with Germany’s Delivery Hero for the acquisition of a 100 percent stake in Yogiyo, according to the retailer.
GS Retail said it will take over 30 percent of the share worth 240 billion won and pay an additional 60 billion won for the planned capital increase worth 200 billion won. The company said it has decided to join the consortium to buy the country’s second-biggest delivery application in a bid to create synergy by integrating its 16,000 retail outlets, including convenience stores, with Yogiyo’s online delivery business.
On the first day of listing on Krafton, the public offering fell below
Source: Maeil Economic Daily
The myth of public offering stocks that ‘can achieve high returns with relatively small investment risk’ is shaking. Krafton, which debuted on the stock market by announcing a plan to raise 4 trillion won in public offering funds, the second largest in the history of public offering stocks as a star stock in the over-the-counter market, closed below the IPO price for the first time as an initial public stock on August 10th, the first day of listing.
Due to Krafton’s sluggishness, the myth of public offering investment that has been formed since the listing of SK Biopharmaceuticals in July last year seems to be broken. According to Heungkuk Securities, Krafton is the first among the seven IPO stocks listed on the KOSPI this year with a closing price lower than the IPO price on the day of listing.
Riiid and DXtera announce EdSAFE AI alliance to drive healthy ecosystem of AIEd sector at ASU+GSV 2021 Summit
Source: Riiid
Riiid, a leading AI for education company, and DXtera, a nonprofit, member-based education consortium, announced today that they have formed a cross-sector alliance of companies, non-profit organizations, and associations to launch an AI in Education (AIEd) benchmark initiative. Announced at the ASU+GSV Summit, the world’s leading EdTech conference, the initiative aims to increase public trust in AI in the education sector by establishing voluntary benchmarks and standards to measure the quality and reliability of new AI for education technologies.
“There has been a strong need for more cross-sector work and more coalition-based collaborative work to make the best use of technologies, talents, and resources we bring to the AIEd industry,” said Jim Larimore, Riiid’s Chief Officer for Equity in Learning and who leads the AI alliance formation effort. “We want to move from high-level benchmarks incorporated into learning tools to the ground level where education stakeholders are actually being impacted. Ultimately, we hope to solve what is basically a human rights matter: access to quality education for all.”
“What has been lacking in the market is trust ,” said Dale Allen, President and Co-Founder of DXtera Institute, the managing organization of the Alliance. “The most exciting part is that standards, specifications and processes can help students, teachers, and parents feel confident that AI-related products and services are safe and built with equity in mind.”
Global early-stage venture capital firm @AntlerGlobal is looking at investing in at least 100 startups over the next four years through its new office in South Korea. https://t.co/LyfnOUPGV2
— AsiaTechDaily (@asiatechdaily) August 11, 2021
SK Telecom, Kakao join hands to set up ESG fund
Source: Yonhap
SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s largest wireless carrier, said Thursday it will form a 20 billion won (US$17.29 million) investment fund with mobile messaging giant Kakao Corp. to nurture promising companies in environmental, social and governance (ESG) sectors. The two companies will each pitch in 10 billion won to create the fund, with plans to draw additional funding from other investors to increase the total amount to over 25 billion won, according to a joint statement.
The fund seeks to invest in tech companies and startups in converging industries with a strong ESG focus.The move comes after the two signed a memorandum of understanding in March this year for cooperation in artificial intelligence technologies and ESG efforts. The two companies formed a strategic partnership back in 2019 when they reached a share swap deal worth 300 billion won.
