1. Korea,
The NEXT Hotbed
for
Asia’s Entrepreneurs
Hyunwook James Jung
CEO of beSUCCESS

2. Korea,
Brief Overview
In Numbers

3. Let’s First Take a Look at Some Numbers
Republic of Korea is one of the hottest economies
in the world
• In 2010, Korea was ranked 3rd in the world in terms of econo
my dynamism (Source: Newsweek, 2nd: US, 1st: Singapore)
• Population of Korea: 50,991,003 (As of Feb. 2013)
• GDP Per Capita: USD 23,679 (Source: IMF, 2011, 2nd in Asia)
• Seoul is projected to be Top 25 Global Hotspots in by 2025 wi
th USD 55,000 GDP per capita (McKinsey, C.f., New York: 79K,
Tokyo: 49K, Beijing: 44K)
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

4. Let’s First Take a Look at Some Numbers
K-POP
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

5. Korea is HOT on Mobile, too!
Korea is all Connected!
• Internet-strong: 104.2% Internet Penetration
• 32 MM Smartphone Users (As of Q4, 2012)
• 67% Smartphone Penetration (1st in the world)
• 35% Growth from 2011 (Source: Informa)
• 68.7% change smartphones less than 2 yrs
Source: Korea Internet & Security Agency
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

6. Korea is HOT on Mobile, too!
4G is Trending!
• 44.6% of smartphones are 4G (LTE, up from 28.7% in the first half of 2012)
• 15,890 4G smartphones
• 4G traffic takes up about 46% of all mobile traffic
Source: Korea Internet & Security Agency
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

7. On Mobile User Behaviors
Source: Matrix
iOS is Tumbling Down!
• iOS M/S first dropped under 10% mark since the iPhone launch in 2009
• It is estimated Android M/S now exceeds 90% mark, as of Feb. 2013.
Source: Korea Internet and Security Agency
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

8. On Mobile User Behaviors
SNG is Strong!
• 79.7% of smartphone users is playing or have played SNG.
• Avg daily playtime is 54.4 minutes.
• Main player segment is teenagers (87%), however, 77.2% in 40s and 54
.3% in 50s
• Among the players, 69.8% Played casual games, 39.2% simulation gam
es, and 12.4% RTS/MMORPG
* SNG: Social Network Game
Source: Korea Internet and Security Agency
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

9. On Mobile User Behaviors
10milion Downloads in 17 days in Google Play
Source: Korea Internet and Security Agency
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

10. On Mobile User Behaviors
Source: Korea Internet and Security Agency
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

11. On Mobile User Behaviors
Monthly Sales of Kakao Games
$ 40 milion
$ 13.8 milion
$ 4.7 milion
2013.8 2013.9 2013.10
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

12. VC Activities
VC Activities are increasing!
• It is commonly said that there are more than sufficient amount of venture capital
in Korean market.
• In 2012, 126 startup investments were made, up from 116 in the previous year.
• For the past 8 years, startup investments proportion to overall deal volumes pea
ked in 2011, at 19%.
• For total of 105 VC firms, the average number of new startup investments in 201
2 was 1.2, slightly up from 1.1 of 2011.
Source: Korean Venture Capital Association
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

13. VC Activities
Trend Setters
• A noteworthy change in 2012 VC activities in Korea was the epiphany of VC firms (
funds) specialized in startup investments, namely:
• The Government of Korea established a 1:1 matching fund for angel investments i
n order to increase angel investments.
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

14. VC Activities
(Foreign) Accelerators/Angel Investors
• In 2012, was the Renaissance of Korean angel investors and accelerators.
• More Foreign and domestic accelerators were established.
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

15. Korea,
Payment
Infrastructure

16. E-payment
Payment in online is still growing very fast
%Growth Total Volume (KRW Billion)
(Source: Statistics Korea, 2013)
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

17. E-payment
Online E-commerce is still growing very fast
%Growth Total Volume (KRW Billion)
(Source: Statistics Korea, 2013)
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

18. E-payment
Credit Card (combined with Debit Card) is the Dominant E-payment Method
(Source: Statistics Korea, 2013)
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

19. E-payment
Oligopoly in Payment Gateway Market
Payment Gatekeeper (“PG”) Market: 80% M/S
Mobile PG Market: 99% M/S
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

20. E-payment
Large Corporations are Tapping E-Wallet Market
Telcos Banks Retailers
…
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013

21. Korea,
In Short

22. Wrapping Up
Very Fast and Interesting Culture
James Jung / james@besuccess.com
Tech in Asia, Singapore Korea, the Hotbed for Entrepreneurs April 4, 2013