As 2023 approaches its final quarter, South Korea’s startup ecosystem, which has been experiencing an extended “investment winter” since last year’s third quarter, continues to await signs of a revival.

The month of September brought with it a noticeable increase in mega funding deals, with numerous startups securing investments exceeding 10 billion won. Here’s a closer look at some of the noteworthy recipients of these investments:

Toss Bank successfully raised 285 billion won through a private placement, pushing its company valuation to an impressive 2.4 trillion won and bringing its total paid-in capital close to the 2 trillion won mark. Toss Bank achieved profitability in July of this year.

Cevo Mobility garnered significant attention by securing an investment of up to 100 million euros to facilitate electric vehicle production in the UAE.

EGNIS, a foodtech startup that introduced the first functional protein convenience food in Korea, secured 34.8 billion won in Series B funding.

Skylabs, the developer of a ring-shaped continuous blood pressure monitor, received 20.7 billion won in Series C funding.

NeocannBio, specializing in medical marijuana production, announced an investment of 10 billion won.

In the realm of artificial intelligence, which currently commands substantial investment interest, several notable startups made significant gains:

Saige Research, offering vision AI solutions for smart factories, secured 15.5 billion won.

AIMMO, providing optimal data sets for autonomous driving, received 14.4 billion won.

XL8, specializing in AI translation, secured 10 billion won.

Upstage, a frontrunner in generative AI, evidenced by its top ranking in the Open LLM (large language model) leaderboard, also secured a substantial investment of 10 billion won.

Two startups that garnered attention for their early-stage funding include:

Panmnesia, a semiconductor fabless startup, secured 16 billion won in investment, with a company valuation of 103.4 billion won in the seed stage.

Cafenono, founded by a serial entrepreneur known for selling Hogganono to Zigbang, secured 6 billion won in investment.

Additionally, Wowtale, a platform reporting on the South Korean startup ecosystem, is conducting interviews with promising Korean startups. These include Toonimotion, specializing in converting webtoons into animations, AIMS, a producer of batteries for electric motorcycles, and Modeul Studio, which is developing a third-generation social networking game (SNG).

• [Korean Startup Interview] CarLab: Revolutionizing the Online New Car Buying Experience
• [Korean Startup Interview] BeringLab: “Expanding Globally with Specialized AI Translation for Law, Patents, and Clinical Fields”
• [Korean Startup Interview] Ubeeslab: “Performance Analysis for Athletes with SOCCERBEE.. Rapid Growth in the Global Market”
• [Korean Startup Interview] SpeedFloor, ‘Transforming Logistics Operation with Smart Conveyor Technology’
• [Korean Startup Interview] Fighting Counterfeits: QUAZAR’s Data-Driven Authentication Tech
• [Korean Startup Interview] Deepvisions: Revolutionizing Air Pollution Monitoring with AI-Powered Vision Technology
• [Korean Startup Interview] From Text to CAD: How Herewe’s EaseAI Is Revolutionizing Product Design
• [KSGC Interview] YJ Electric: “Transforming Agriculture with Smart Farms in the Korean Market”
• [Korean Startup Interview] IPIN LABS, “Challenging the Global Market with Strong Indoor Positioning Technology”
• [KSGC Interview] Pettinee Brings Telemedicine Innovation to Korea’s Growing Pet Care Market

You may refer to the details regarding fundraising in September below

• [Fintech] Toss Bank Raises Record 285 Billion KRW in Capital, Valuation Hits 2.4 Trillion KRW
• [Foodtech] South Korean foodtech company EGNIS, raising 34.8 Billion KRW in Series B funding 
• [BioHealth] South Korean healthcare startup Skylabs raises ₩20.7 billion to accelerate growth 
• [Greentech] South Korean tableware rental and cleaning startup Bbodek raised additional KRW 18 billion in Series B funding  
• [Semiconductor] South Korean CXL semiconductor startup Panmnesia raises ₩16 billion in seed round 
• [Contents] South Korean immersive media entertainment company dotmill secures 15.8 billion KRW in pre-IPO funding 
• [Smart Factory] Saige Research, a Korean AI Startup for Manufacturing Quality Control, Raises KRW 15.5 Billion in Series B  
• [AI] AIMMO secures KRW 14.4 billion pre-IPO investment to expand global business  
• [Greentech] South Korean Eco-friendly Energy Solution ‘Difon’ Secures 12.4 Billion KRW in Series A Funding
• [Media] XL8 Secures $7.5 Million in Funding to Advance AI-Powered Machine Translation and Localization Solutions 
• [BioHealth] Neocannbio expands global reach with KRW 10 billion Series B funding 
• [Entertainment] Attrakt, home to K-pop sensation FiftyFifty, raised 10 billion KRW funding to fuel global expansion 
• [Edutech] Mathpresso Raised KRW 10 Billion funding and Strategic Partnership with KT for Enhanced AI Education Solutions  
• [AI] KT, 업스테이지에 100억원 규모 투자…초거대AI 생태계 확장 
• [Enterprise] Cafenono raises 6 billion KRW for its web builder service Slashpage 
• [Adtech] The Korea-based office media company, spaceAdd, raised KRW 7.3 billion in Series C Round
• [Commerce] South Korean AI commerce ‘Enhans’ raises KRW 7.5 billion in Series A funding 
• [Commerce] Korean-based live commerce solutions Mobidoo secures KRW 7 billion Series B bridge funding