As the world is seeing a venture boom, there have been a few Korean start-ups rising to the top. These start-ups have brought traditionally off-line markets to mobile and changed the course of their respective industries, receiving both global attention and funding.
Kakao Taxi
 |
| Kim Beom-su, president of Daum Kakao |
Kim Beom-su, president of Daum Kakao, was ranked No. 11 on the Forbes list of Korea’s 50 richest people this year.
After his success with mobile messenger app KakaoTalk, Kim is set on shaking up the taxi industry with Kakao Taxi, a mobile application that connects customers and taxi drivers with a few swipes on a smartphone.
Unlike conventional call taxis, Kakao Taxi does not require users to pay an additional fee. Moreover, the app reduces uncertainty by allowing users to post a rating after using the service.
Due to the lack of call fees, Kakao Taxi does not have an immediate profit model, but Kim has put much effort into the project, even acquiring navigation app Kimgisa in the process.
Experts muse that Kim may have plans to expand the platform beyond taxis to other transportation businesses, such as chauffeur or delivery services, even entering overseas markets, given that KakaoTalk has 180 million users worldwide.
Memebox
 |
| Ha Hyung-seok, CEO of Membox |
Korean beauty service start-up Memebox is a subscription service where users receive a box filled with makeup from a number of brands each month after paying a monthly fee.
Memebox, founded by CEO Ha Hyung-seok in 2011, first began with a fund of 35 million won ($31,000), but now has 100 billion won in profits in its sights as its goal for 2015.
The start-up became a major platform for introducing Korean cosmetics to an international audience, and also recently created its own cosmetics line, XO Memebox.
Memebox received funding of $29 million in March from a number of venture capital firms, such as Formation 8 and Goodwater Capital.
Among the investors were Jerry Yang, cofounder of Yahoo and the second-largest shareholder of China’s Alibaba Group, and Paul Pressler, former president and CEO of Gap Inc. and chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Memebox is also the first Korean start-up to receive funding from Y-Combinator, a leading Venture Capital company that has funded major start-ups including Airbnb and Dropbox.
Blind
 |
| Jung Young-joon and Moon Sung-uk, co-CEO of Teamblind Inc. (No photo available) |
Blind, founded in 2013, is a messaging app that offers total anonymity to the company employees using it.
Blind opens a board for a company once there are enough requests, then users register with their company email address, which is hidden from the public.
The app also features a service called the “Lounge” for people in the same industry to share information with one another.
The key feature of Blind is that users can share information about their company with complete anonymity, helping employees avoid potential repercussions. Case in point: Korean Air’s infamous “nut rage” incident was first announced to the public through an anonymous post on Blind.
Blind has also entered the international market, as American companies Zulily and LinkedIn, as well as Japan’s Itochu Corporation, have started using Blind.
Online retailer Amazon also opened a board on Blind for its employees worldwide this month.
Devoted to the anonymity model, Jung Young-joon and Moon Sung-uk, co-CEOs of Teamblind Inc., accept interviews only on the condition of not being photographed as they do not want their business to be overshadowed by their personal identities.
The exact value of the company is still unknown, as Blind has not gone public. However, as it services around 300 Korean companies and several more overseas, it is estimated to be of considerable value.
Zigbang
 |
| Ahn Sung-woo, CEO of Channel Breeze |
Online real estate application Zigbang is the Korean start-up on this list after Memebox to have received the greatest investments to date.
Zigbang, founded in 2012, specializes in searching for vacant studios for rent by price and location without having to visit a real estate office. Channel Breeze, which operates Zigbang, has received funding totaling over $26 million from several venture capital firms over the last two years.
Ahn Sung-woo, CEO of Channel Breeze, said that Zigbang was developed to get rid of the inconvenience of having to physically visit real estate offices to find out information on available studio apartments. Zigbang has garnered over 7 million downloads thus far.
SOCAR
 |
| Kim Ji-mahn, CEO of SOCAR |
Car-sharing service start-up SOCAR received funding of $18 million from American investor Bain Capital last October.
Kim Ji-mahn, CEO of SOCAR, said he created the start-up when he lived apart from his wife while working on Jejudo Island and found himself in need of a car he could share with others.
The car-sharing app caught on with university students on the island and soon spread to the rest of Korea.
Recently, SOCAR has partnered with Kakao Taxi so that when there are no cars available for sharing in a given area, users can call up a nearby taxi instead.
By The Korea Herald Superrich Team (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)
Kwon Nam-keun, Hong Seung-wan, Sung Yeon-jin, Bae Ji-sook, Yoon Hyun-jong, Min Sang-seek, Kim Hyun-il, Sang Youn-joo
