Meet The Startups That Will Pitch At The TechSupport Meetup

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The TechCrunch Meetup in Seoul presented by Campus Seoul is set for April 16 at the aA Design Museum and we’re thrilled to announce the startups vying for your attention in the great pitch-off. We found a great group of interesting startups that might just have what it takes to make it, and we look forward to learning more about them next week.
If your startup didn’t make the cut, don’t worry — we’re happy to talk to you about what you’re working on at the event itself.
So, without further ado (drumroll please…) here are the pitch-off contestants that were selected from the hundreds that applied:
AKA Intelligence: deep-learning startup that built a Quantum machine learning systemAquaPowerGen: green-tech startup behind a hydrogen-powered engineBBB: mobile health startup that enables blood tests from smartphonesCasual Steps: e-commerce site allowing Koreans to shop at overseas web storesCloudbric: web security startupIamcompany: service to help parents manage their children’s school informationMobidays Inc: mobile ad tech and marketing startupROOT ENERGY: service promoting energy saving and green practicesSolidware: machine learning and risk assessment technologySpacosa Corp: internet-of-things company that tracks the location of family and loved ones
Each startup will have two minutes to pitch their product or service. That will be followed by four minutes of questions from the judging panel, which will consist of TechCrunch editors and local startup figures.
In addition to the obvious prestige of winning, there are prizes on offer for the triumphant pitch-off contestants.
The winner will score space to demo their company in Startup Alley at a future TechCrunch Disrupt conference. Campus Seoul will give them the opportunity to participate in its global Campus Exchange in London.
The second-placed startup will take home two tickets to an upcoming Disrupt conference, while the third place company gets one Disrupt ticket.
We have also lined up a few interesting fireside chats with prominent local tech figures to round out the evening and provide insight to entrepreneurs and fledgling startups.
There are only a handful of tickets for the event left, so if you haven’t already reserved your spot, now is the time to apply for tickets here.
That’s not quite all. TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher, Sam O’Keefe and I will take part in a discussion on creating startup ecosystem that generate global companies at Google Campus Seoul in the afternoon before the meet-up. You can reserve tickets for that event here — more details in Korean.
See you in Seoul!

By: Unknown On 00:29

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500 Startups Launches A $15M Korea-Focused Fund Called 500 Kimchi

With its extremely high smartphone penetration rate, speedy broadband connections, and advanced economy, South Korea is one of the richest breeding grounds for tech innovation in Asia. 500 Startups, which has already made several investments in Korean companies, is digging deeper into the country with the launch of 500 Kimchi, a $15 million fund that will focus on mobile companies.
500 Kimchi will be managed by investing partner Tim Chae, who says the fund’s goal is to not only provide promising startups with seed funding, but also bring them to the attention of other Silicon Valley investors.
“Korea is something we have been working on for a bit. Our first investment was in 2012 with a company called Shakr,” Chae told TechCrunch. “Korea is exciting is us because we feel like it is a perfect storm. It’s a developed economy and people spend a lot of money. Its mobile infrastructure and culture is second to none in the world.”
Korean startups also have the benefit of strong financial support from the government. The Korean government has said it plans to put $3.7 billion into fledging tech companies through grants and other programs over the next three years, which makes it the country that offers the most per-capita backing to startups in the world.
Chae points out that even though South Korea is a relatively small country with a population of just 50 million, its startup industry has already spawned several unicorns, including online retailer Coupang and messaging app Kakao. Both managed to achieve billion-dollar valuations even though they operate almost solely in Korea.
Other startups, however, are eyeing expansion into foreign countries. Chae says 500 Kimchi’s investment strategy will take a two-pronged approach. It will be a co-investor in seed rounds for mobile companies that plan to focus specifically on Korea, while startups that plan to go global will be brought into 500 Startup’s accelerator program in Silicon Valley.
“There are a lot of different sectors that have not been taken advantage of. Companies are being built in Korea with technology that is not being tried in the U.S. because of the sheer advances in bandwidth speed,” says Chae.
One example is a company in 500 Startups’ currently accelerator program called Spika, the maker of ShareON. The Android and iOS app lets users share files between devices without any downloads or lag time. For example, if one user has a 10GB movie file, they can instantly stream it to another device.
Products like ShareON are possible because bandwidth speeds are two to three times faster in South Korea than in the U.S., but they have potential to introduce their technology to other markets as local Internet infrastructure catches up.
Other South Korean companies 500 Startups has invested in include Between, Cream, Plugger, and Tapastic.
One of the challenges facing South Korean startups is the current lack of exit opportunities, but Chae hopes that will change as more Silicon Valley investors and companies began paying attention to the ecosystem.
“One of our initiatives is geared toward increasing awareness for Silicon Valley companies that are potential acquirers and bringing them to Korea,” he says.
500 Kimchi is the latest microfund launched by 500 Startups to focus on one country. 500 TukTuks, a $10 million fund for Thailand, was will close soon. Chae says 500 Startups may launch other country-specific funds over the next couple of years.

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How Wearable Startups Can Win Big In The Medical Industry

Editor’s note: Julie Papanek is a principal at Canaan Partners where she invests in healthcare startups.
As attention shines down on fitness trackers and smartwatches, one of the biggest opportunities for wearable devices remains shadowed in the corner

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CoVenture Raises $3M To Build Software For Startups

and he’s announcing that it’s raised $3 million in funding.
For the most part, the money won’t go directly into startups, but rather to funding CoVenture’s operations. Hamed told me the firm employs 55 developers and designers in Lahore, Pakistan, and it offers their services to startups in exchange for equity.

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Startups, Late-Stage Valuations, And Bull

Bill Gurley, a general partner at Benchmark, makes news mostly because he says what other venture capitalists will tell you while drunk, but does so while on the record. It’s refreshing in a way.
Most recently, Gurley made the point that the tech and investment industries are shoving nine and ten-figure sums of cash into startups while not enjoying a full dig into their financials. In the age of the mega-round, the issue isn’t a small one: Gurley thinks that some people are investing from the hip and not from the spreadsheet.
Here’s the quote:

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500 Startups Is Raising A $10M Fund In Thailand To Increase Its Focus On Asia

500 Startups, the U.S. startup investor/accelerator with a reputation for backing startups across the world, is deepening its efforts in Asia with a new $10 million micro-fund for Thailand. The organization launched a $10 million fund for Asia

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500 Startups Keeps Its Commitment To Invest In Women In Tech

500 Startups managing partner Christine Tsai told me by phone earlier today. That’s exactly what the early-stage investment firm has been trying to do over the last five years, and it seems to be succeeding.
Its commitment starts with the makeup of the organization itself, but extends into the portfolio companies 500 backs as well. Half the managing partners and staff at 500 Startups are women and at least one-third of the investing team are female. More than a quarter of the companies in the 500 portfolio are led by female CEO’s, according to the firm.
It’s also been doing work to create programs that invest in female-led companies and include more women in the conversation. The firm introduced its 500 Women AngelList syndicate last fall and pledged to invest $1 million in 10 female-led companies in the portfolio.
Tsai says she is well aware of the sexism and discrimination that often plagues Silicon Valley. She’s witnessed the occasional remark about a female VC’s breasts and heard the stories of pregnant female founders being questioned about how serious they are about their careers by potential investors.
But rather than talk about the problem, Tsai says we need to put our money where our mouth is.

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Coursera Partners With Google, Instagram, 500 Startups And Others On Students’ Capstone Projects

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