Foreign venture capital firms huddle with Korean start-ups

More than 20 venture capital firms from the United States, Japan, China and Singapore are having an open investment relations event and one-on-one meetings with about 160 Korean start-ups on Thursday at The Class conventional hall in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul.

At the event hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, about 40 selected start-ups in different areas ranging from cultural content to software will each have 10 minutes to pitch their companies and business items. Foreign venture capital firms that were previously interested in Korean start-ups are attending the event, including DeNA of Japan, which had previously funded the now-closed social media Between, and Rakuten Group of Japan, which acquired local app Vingle for 200 billion won ($180.4 million).