Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) ‘s ‘Korean Startup Showcase 2022 Singapore’ conducted its first demo day on October 26 with seven Korean travel startups showcasing their products and services to potential investors and VCs. The four-day program from October 24-28, 2022 is conducted by KTO and organized by CNT Tech and co-hosted by Cuvee April.

The first demo day was held at Yuen Law LLC office, which is a boutique legal practice dedicated to providing clients practical, cost-effective legal advice on commercial, corporate, intellectual property, family, private wealth and dispute issues. 

The Korean travel startups that are part of the program are WeAreFriends Co., ltd., an online world travel app developer; Seoul Unniedeul, a K-beauty content platform; Gleam Media Group INC, a K-Pop fan platform; Enkorwithus: a residential service for foreigners visiting Korea; Wmclub, a service that matches functional shoes and insoles; Globaleur, an AI-driven itinerary recommendation and optimization engine; VEStellaLab, a navigation app for parking space.

The VCs and investors that attended the Demo Day on October 26th: 

Jonathan Lim, Analyst, TRIVE: 

Jonathan is an Analyst at TRIVE, and he is passionate about the role startups play in changing the fabric of society. At TRIVE, he is in charge of managing deal flow. He is also involved in the decision-making process of assessing new companies. 

TRIVE is a VC firm investing in high-growth technology startups that create positive social impact, improving the health and wealth of people in Southeast Asia.

Douglas Lee, Vice President, RBP Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Douglas has been Vice President at Redbadge Pacific Present for over four years. He has worked as a senior investment manager, marketing executive, and analyst at various global organizations. 

Redbadge Pacific is the Asia-Pacific arm of Redbadge, the US-based family office of Robert L. Burch. The platform operates as a global alternative asset manager with institutional and regional family office capital access. With offices in Korea, Singapore and the US, it takes an entrepreneur-friendly approach and seeks to create long-term value for companies.  

Dr. Damian Tan, Managing Director, Vickers Venture Partners (S) Pte Ltd:

Dr. Damian Tan joined Vickers in 2005 as a Venture Partner. He has been a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee since 2014 and is based in Singapore. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of IT in companies such as Hewlett Packard, Digital, Far East Computers, Olivetti, Oracle and Apple. Damian also has extensive project management experience, having been involved with the direction of large, complex technology projects in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the US.

Vickers Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in Asia and beyond. The firm’s portfolio covers life sciences, technology, media, telecommunications, and consumer and financial services. Vickers Venture Partners announced in December 2021 that they had raised over US$250 million to invest in startups worldwide, focusing on deep tech. 

Rex Fong, Partner, Capitale Ventures:

Rex Fong has been the founding Partner at Capitale Ventures for over two years. He has been an investor at Tripwonder, Senior Vice President at GEX Global Capital and Group Finance Director at GEX Ventures in the past. 

Capitale Ventures is an investment group with expertise in complex, cross-border transactions. The VC firm partners with entrepreneurs in funding their growth stories through innovative market access and public venture capital strategies to grow from startups to publicly traded companies. 

Andrew Kim, Founder & CEO, Fynd

Andrew has been the founder & CEO at Fynd in Singapore for 2 yrs 9 months. He has been previously the executive talent partner – APAC at Global Hyper-Growth “Stealth” Start-Up, Recruiting Manager – APAC at Uber, Consultant at You & Partners in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, and Associate at Profile Search & Selection.

Fynd is an invite-only startup talent community. It enables members to passively and actively explore new career opportunities and instantly build a meaningful professional network in a fun, easy, and practical manner.

Siegtraund Teh, Vice President – Group Business & Deputy CEO, Sovico Group

Siegtraund The is VP and serves as an advisor to the Sovico Group chairman & leadership to drive corporate restructuring and verticalization of the group to strengthen its position in Vietnam as a leading conglomerate. Her role is to drive digital transformation, the launch of platform business, venture building and group center of excellence (COE).

Sovico Group is a leading investment group in Vietnam, providing international quality products and services in banking and finance, aviation, digital transformation, energy, urban areas, resorts, etc., to meet customers’ needs and integrate into the global economy.

John C Sharp, Managing Partner, Hatcher Plus Pte Ltd

John has been the Managing Partner at Hatcher in Singapore for over 9 years. He was chairman & CEO at Content and Systems for over 28 years. He has served as president & CTO at DocDoc Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and as Founder and Chairman at DealHorizon.com.

Hatcher+ is the developer of the multi-award-winning VAAST Venture As A Service Technology platform and founder of the Hatcher (H1) and H2 early-stage investment vehicles.

Weichang Ge, Senior Analyst SOSV:

Weichang Ge is a senior analyst for SOSV’s HAX program and works directly with the HAX General Partner Cyril Ebersweiler in San Francisco. Weichang has worked in various venture capital firms across the US and China. 

SOSV is a global, multi-stage venture capital firm that operates early-stage startup development programs. It supports 1000+ startups operating in 60 countries. 

Chuck Kim, Head of Fundraising, Grab:

Chuck has been with Grab for over three years. He was a director at Citi for nine years, an Associate at Nomura, an Associate at Lehman Brothers, and an Associate at Credit Suisse.

Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading super app, offering a suite of services consisting of deliveries, mobility, financial services, enterprise and others. 

Nagarajan Selvanathan, Director Of Program Development, TNB Ventures

Nagarajan serves as Director Of Program Development at TNB Ventures, Singapore. He was director Of operations and business development at Truuue – Real Estate Transaction Platform, Visiting Fellow at the National University of Singapore and, Lecturer at Rutgers University.

TNB Ventures is a venture capital firm and accelerator led by entrepreneurs with proven operational experience and exits under their belts, as well as a diverse and complementary background in fund management, software and precision engineering. 

Bennett Lee, Investment Director, Velocity Ventures:

Bennett is the investment director at Velocity Ventures. He has been on the Board Of Directors at SimplyGood, the Mentor at Korea Tourism Organization, the Mentor and Advisor at the Singapore Tourism Board and the Mentor at Plug and Play Tech Center.

Velocity Ventures invests in visionary entrepreneurs reshaping Southeast Asia’s Travel & Hospitality sector. The company focuses on Seed to Series A stage growth companies across the Transportation, Travel Retail, Real Estate & Accommodation, Food & Beverage and Retail & Entertainment sub-sectors. 

Jordan Tan, Investment Analyst, Velocity Ventures

Jordan is an analyst with Velocity ventures. He has previous experience at The Investment Banking Club (NTU), DB Academy at Deutsche Bank, SGX Group, and Showa Denko Materials Group.

Chen Yu, Investment Analyst, Velocity Ventures:

Chen Yu has been an investment Analyst at Velocity Ventures. Previously, he was in business development (commercial) Intern at Vallianz Offshore Marine and, Tax Assistant at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

The investors and VCs asked different questions regarding their services as they presented their pitches. There were questions regarding competition, revenues, marketing potential, technology, problem they are addressing, expansion plan, profits, cost of goods, strengths and weaknesses, market strategy, user retention, etc. 

The program in Singapore has mentoring sessions, VC meetings and a Demo day event for startups. The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KTO have set up a Korea Tourism Startup Center(KTSC) in Singapore in 2022 to help tourism startups create more opportunities in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Since 2011, KTO has accelerated more than 1,000 startups over the past 12 years. In the last three years, it has worked to develop startups into innovative tourism companies through a specialized program for global market expansion.

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