Seoul
GM, LG Chem studying the feasibility of a second battery cell plant in the US
General Motors is exploring building a second U.S. battery cell manufacturing plant with its joint-venture partner, Seoul, South Korea-based LG Chem. If the plant moves forward, it would be the latest
Tencent leads $100M Series B funding round into China-based esport provider VSPN
Further confirmation that the esports market is booming amid the pandemic comes today with the news that esports “total solutions provider” VSPN (Versus Programming Network) has raised wha
South Korean startup Cochlear.ai raises $2 million Series A to detect the sounds missed by speech recognition
Sit quietly for a moment and pay attention to the different sounds around you. You might hear appliances beeping, cars honking, a dog barking, someone sneezing. These are all noises Cochlear.ai, a Seo
Google Cloud announces four new regions as it expands its global footprint
Google Cloud today announced its plans to open four new data center regions. These regions will be in Delhi (India), Doha (Qatar), Melbourne (Australia) and Toronto (Canada) and bring Google Clou
SendBird’s messaging platform gets new moderation tools, full-text search and more
SendBird is announcing a major update to its chat API for web and mobile today. With this, SendBird is adding numerous new features to its service that will make it easier for its customers to moderat
Snap accelerator names its latest cohort
Yellow, the accelerator program launched by Snap in 2018, has selected ten companies to join its latest cohort. The new batch of startups coming from across the U.S. and international cities like Lond
Google Cloud opens its Seoul region
Google Cloud today announced that its new Seoul region, its first in Korea, is now open for business. The region, which it first talked about last April, will feature three availability zones and supp
Los Angeles’ AmazeVR raises more cash, heads to Incheon for first location-based VR installation
AmazeVR, the Los Angeles-based virtual reality entertainment distribution service, is taking its first steps into the world of location-based virtual reality experiences with an installation in Seoul&
Hyundai and Seoul set to test self-driving cars on city roads starting next month
Hyundai has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city of Seoul to begin testing six autonomous vehicles on roads in the Gangnam district beginning next month, BusinessKorea reports. The
Kurly, a grocery e-commerce startup in Korea, closes upsized $113M Series D round
Kurly, a startup that operates a grocery delivery service in Korea, said today that it has closed an upsized Series D round that reached a total of $113 million. The company announced the round in Apr
Xprize names two grand prize winners in $15 million Global Learning Challenge
Xprize, the nonprofit organization developing and managing competitions to find solutions to social challenges, has named two grand prize winners in the Elon Musk-backed Global Learning Xprize. The co
Payment service Toss becomes Korea’s newest unicorn after raising $80M
South Korea has its fourth unicorn startup after Viva Republica, the company beyond popular payment app Toss, announced it has raised an $80 million round at a valuation of $1.2 billion. This new rou
Korean e-commerce firm Coupang raises $2 billion from SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Just days after a CIA report concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, SoftBank’s Vision Fund — the gargantuan investment veh
Korean AI startup Skelter Labs lands strategic investment to expand to Southeast Asia
Korean AI startup Skelter Labs is expanding to Southeast Asia after it pulled in undisclosed funding from Singapore-based VC firm Golden Gate Ventures. Skelter Labs was founded in 2015 by founded by
Korean lending startup PeopleFund raises $11M led by chat app Kakao’s payment unit
South Korean peer-to-peer lending startup PeopleFund is in the money itself after it raised an $11 million Series B funding round that was led by Kakao Pay, the fintech division of Kakao, Korea’
Location-based virtual reality is increasing its footprint in the U.S.
Earlier this year, in a small, grey-walled storefront inside a very large mall in Torrance, Calif. (just past the AMC Center) , the virtual reality game-maker Survios planted its first flag in the mar
Esports Overwatch League heads to hipster Brooklyn for its finals
What could be more perfect than moving the inaugural championship finals for an esports league from its Los Angeles home to Brooklyn? For Overwatch League, the esports conference created by fiat from
ICO services: Lots of barnacles but no whales
Nearly every aspect of the current ICO market is pay-for-play or otherwise tainted. I do not paint the industry with such a broad brush lightly but this sort of chicanery hasn’t existed since th
South Korean capital Seoul mulls ‘S-Coin’ tokens and blockchain-based government
South Korea has been at the forefront of the blockchain movement, with some of the highest density of cryptocurrency traders anywhere in the world. Now, as the frenzy around cryptocurrency prices rece
Games firm Netmarble to raise $2.35B in Korea’s largest IPO since 2010
Netmarble, one of the world’s top mobile and PC gaming firms, has filed to raise as much as $2.35 billion (2.66 trillion won) through an IPO in its native Korea. The firm said in a filing [in K