Korean AI-powered GovTech startup ‘Wello’ has secured Series A funding. Korea Investment Partners and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT), which participated in the pre-Series A round, have made follow-up investments, while new investors include We Ventures, Shinhan Venture Investment, and Fast Ventures. The amount raised in this round has not been disclosed.

Founded in June 2021, Wello offers two main services: a personalized policy recommendation platform for individuals called “Wello,” and a SaaS platform for businesses, “WelloBiz,” which facilitates the management of public sector projects.

The name ‘Wello’ is a blend of “Welfare” and “Hello,” reflecting its mission to help every citizen easily access tailored policy information for free. Since its launch, the platform has attracted around 2.2 million users, who have used Wello to find customized policies, connecting individuals to benefits totaling KRW 8.9 trillion (approximately USD 6.7 billion).

‘WelloBiz’, on the other hand, is a SaaS service that helps companies manage public sector grants and bidding opportunities. From startup grants to large-scale public bids, businesses can track these opportunities through the platform. In the two years since its launch, more than 5,000 companies have used WelloBiz to manage public sector projects. Currently, the total size of public projects managed by companies through WelloBiz exceeds KRW 4 trillion (approximately USD 3 billion).

Kim So-hee, Managing Director of We Ventures, one of the new investors in this Series A round, remarked, “Wello has shown impressive growth with a genuine business model and rapid execution. We see significant potential in its future services and have led the investment. We fully support Wello’s vision and look forward to playing a key role as a partner.”

Wello’s competitive edge lies in its ‘highly scalable data platform’. South Korea’s government spending for 2024 is projected to reach KRW 656 trillion (approximately USD 492 billion), nearly double the KRW 355 trillion (approximately USD 266 billion) spent 10 years ago, and it is expected to rise to KRW 677 trillion (approximately USD 508 billion) in 2025. Since its inception, Wello has developed proprietary technology to effectively manage decentralized policy data from various institutions. Its product roadmap, designed to cater to both individuals and businesses, continues to enhance and expand.

Jung Hwa-mok, Director at Korea Investment Partners, and Ahn Ji-hyun, a former official from the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea, who both contributed follow-up investments, praised Wello’s team, saying, “Wello’s deep understanding of its users, combined with its relentless problem-solving and strong servant leadership, positions it as a pioneer in this emerging market. We have high expectations for its global expansion.”

With this latest round of investment, Wello plans to focus on R&D to develop a platform that can be used by every citizen in South Korea. Additionally, it aims to partner with government agencies to enter the global market using a ‘Korean-style B2G2C model’. Wello notes that South Korea’s government laid a solid administrative and technological foundation for the global GovTech market when it enacted the e-Government Act 20 years ago. In fact, South Korea ranked first overall in the OECD’s digital government evaluation for the second consecutive time in 2024 and also topped the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) among 198 countries.

Lee Jin-soo, Managing Director at Shinhan Venture Investment, commented, “As the top-ranked country in the OECD’s digital government evaluation, Korea is leading the global trend toward platform-based government. Shinhan Financial Group is excited to collaborate with Wello to help it leverage AI and data to further personalize policy services for both individuals and businesses, ultimately improving the quality of life for citizens.”

Wello CEO Kim Yuliana shared her vision: “The GovTech industry, which has grown deep and wide globally, is now beginning to emerge in South Korea. We are grateful for the support in developing Wello’s uniquely Korean service. With this investment, we aim to help every individual and business in Korea experience public policies efficiently from start to finish and plan to expand globally, using this Korean model as a foundation.”