How is Korea’s early stage VC, KakaoVentures, envisioning the future in 2019?

How is Kakaoventures, Korea’s early stage Venture Capital, envisioning the future in 2019?

One of the big surprises of attending YC Demo Day last March was seeing how international the YC batch has become. They have funded startups from 53 countries to date, although 76.8% of the companies do come from the states. However, this serves as a sign of what’s to come — we will begin to see the rise of unicorns from the international community instead of exclusively having a few from US and China dominate the startup scene.

YC Alumni Map (source)

Hence, the natural question that arises is what is happening in countries outside of US? What are the innovations being funded in smaller countries, such as Korea, that currently boasts 9 unicorns so far?

To answer this question, I composed what a typical day will look like if Kakaoventures’ 2019 investments all succeeded. Kakaoventures was selected because it lead the way in 2018 with 43 new investments.

For non-Koreans, I hope that this could help one see what problems Koreans are trying to solve to create a better future. The difference in culture leads to different interpretations of the problem, which I believe will help tech to be built for all, not for a specific subset of the world population (i.e. 23andme used to struggle with genes of people of color).

For Koreans, I hope that this could serve as a way to see if there is a fit with Kakaoventures, who are working towards changing how VCs work by co-piloting the founders’ journey to accelerate the future of technology and ensure that everyone on the plane enjoys the ride.

Shina, the CEO of Kakaoventures, is creating a new culture of how VCs work in Korea (source)

Imagine waking up with a text from your workout buddies (butfit) that instead of working out indoors, it will be taken outdoors thanks to the great weather. So you open up the curtains and see the clear skies with no one wearing a mask, as if pollution never existed (AweXome Ray).

As you walk out, you get a text from your workout buddies that one of the new members has just been diagnosed with cancer. To brighten up your group, you call Open The Table and recite the recipes from Dr. Kitchen to order breakfast that is good for those who are recovering from cancer. By setting the delivery time to when the workout ends, you gift everyone with a pleasant surprise!

After a solid exercise with your crew, you see a really cute bento box on your way back, so you decide to buy one and store your daughter’s breakfast in that box (Social Bean). And once she sees it, she writes her name all over it so that the whale bento box will forever be hers :)

It’s an actual whale bento box! (source)

After eating, you tell your daughter that a new teacher will be coming in later today. You forward her the ‘matched’ message you received from the app and wander what she will learn from an Oxford grad who studied contemporary literature major (Jaranda). Knowing that the teacher you matched with is trending right now, you are excited to see what your daughter will learn from the 1:1 session.

Once you get to work, you meet with your fellow influencers who are ready to broadcast to all their fans today without opening a bunch of live streaming sites (restream). They start their day playing Project N1, which has become the next Fortnite and began a new streak of Korean games topping the charts.

As the day goes by, some of your influencers lead a new game intro session thanks to the P.C. room partnership, which amasses a new gaming crowd that makes your company go viral that day (Luni Media). As you celebrate, you get a text from your daughter that she has written a new story for you on Chatie.

You freak out after she tells you that its a horror story, as that is one genre you can’t handle. However, as it is your daughter’s story, you gently go to the restroom holding your breath and almost faint reading it, wandering if she’s the second coming of Mary Shelley.

Future stories may be written with a bunch of chat bubbles (source)

Your mother than sends you a text that she received a notification from her car app, along with a cute message, “help, I don’t know what to do.” (Macarong) You gently smile and message her back that you have ordered her car to get to the closest repair shop, as you attached its self driving radar last week (smart radar system).

After a crazy day of work, you go to a nearby restaurant, where the Kakaoventures family awaits you and other founders. As you debrief with your family members (what Kakaoventures calls other founders who received their investment), you learn that your workout buddy is actually one of the 140 family members and that he spread the rumor of your good deed.

So the dinner ends up becoming a party, where you are rewarded with one of the “Family Awards,” as “the caring soul.” You then leave with a speech about how the generosity that you felt at these family days is what inspired you to do what you did and get smacked by a cake to celebrate it (yes, that’s how we actually celebrate in Korea).

There goes the cake! (source)

After the party, your team congratulates you and tells you to take a day off, as it is actually your birthday tomorrow. Elated, you tell your daughter to find the place she wants to go through Tripstore, as you never had the time to plan out your trip. Your daughter chooses Hong Kong because she likes how the name rhymes (after all, she is the second coming of Mary Shelley).

Once you arrive at HK the next day, you are greeted at the airport by people who not only give you cash exchanged at best rates for a minimal fee (less than 1%), but also a local card connected to your phone (Mobile toong). Then you wear your smart glasses with your daughter to have a local guide in Korea lead you throughout Hong Kong so that you could have your best trip! (Spatial)

From a story made from Kakaoventures’ investments this year, one could see that each startup is solving a clear need that will make our future better. Despite the limited number of venture capitalists in Korea, founders are working relentlessly to push their creative ideas into fruition.

I hope that this encourages those from the states to look at international startups more to encourage solutions unconventional to those in the valley. This will not only encourage competition, but also serve more diverse needs so that more people will be empowered to do what they couldn’t do through technology and hopefully make technology inclusive for all.