On August 13, the Korean accelerator ‘WOW Partners’ successfully hosted the ‘4th WOW IR Day’ at Tipstown S1, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. This event serves as a platform to connect promising startups with investors and introduce them to the market, featuring participants from ‘Startup Together,’ an interview series by WOWTALE, a startup media outlet operated by WOW Partners. This marked its fourth installment.

The event showcased five innovative startups— FUST Lab, UpennSolution, EARTHFORM, MyIB, and BION LIQUID—who participated in an investment pitching session.

Among the featured startups, FUST Lab (Pre-Series A: KRW 3 Billion) is advancing a technology that incorporates nano-emulsion dispersion into manufacturing processes using ultrasonic focusing technology. UpennSolution (Series A: KRW 1.5 Billion) has developed ‘SPIDERKIM,’ a no-code online web scraping tool designed to collect and process large data sets efficiently.

EARTHFORM (Seed: KRW 500 Million) is pioneering the development of eco-friendly packaging and cushioning materials utilizing mushroom mycelium along with agricultural and fishery by-products. MyIB (Pre-Series A: KRW 1 Billion) offers ‘Give&Match,’ a matching gift platform that facilitates charitable contributions from companies and their employees. Bion Liquid (Seed: KRW 2 Billion) is creating a new drug delivery system based on ionic liquid technology.

The Q&A session following the presentations revealed deep interest from investment officials, evidenced by their detailed inquiries. This was followed by a networking session, providing an opportunity for in-depth interactions.

Over the past two years, more than 130 startup teams have participated in the ‘Startup Together‘ project hosted by Wowtale. Despite a tough investment climate, over 30% of these teams have successfully secured funding following their interviews.

Furthermore, WOW Partners, the entity behind WOWTALE, recently received approval to register as an ‘Accelerator’ from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of Korea. They are currently raising a fund to intensify their investment in startups, aiming to energize the startup ecosystem, uncover promising new businesses, and provide both investment and support services.