Entrepreneurship and Small Business News in Asia
Smart Money / 2017. 12. 20. 22:48 / Startups

Securities companies are responding to the plan to strengthen the soundness regulation on the large-scale IB of the Financial Supervisory Commission. It is a complaint that restricting corporate loans to new or innovative companies or adding soundness regulations can put the hands and feet of large IBs in charge of the role of venture capitalists into a state of 'shut down'. 




The Finance and Administration Innovation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the "Innovation Committee"), a private advisory body to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), announced on 20th that it would recommend strengthening the soundness of large-scale IBs and restricting credit grantees. 


The ministry said it would limit loans to large startups or start-ups, such as large-scale IB loans, and require bank-level prudential regulations and investor protection measures. 


These reform recommendations seem to have taken some countervailing response to the banking system against the large IB business. In the meantime, the bank has adhered to the opposing position that the issuance billing business of the super large IB broke into the bank's own domain. 


Large IBs with more than KRW4 trillion in equity capital can issue bonds with maturity less than one year based on their own credit within two times of their equity capital, and then use the funds raised by investors to finance corporate and real estate financing. 


Big IBs see a kind of shackle as a recommendation by the innovation committee to limit corporate loans to start-ups.


An IB official at a brokerage firm said, "The companies that are willing to borrow money from brokers until they pay a higher price have been turned away from the bank," he said. It is the role of capital. " 


Another brokerage firm official said, "Big IBs have to provide customized financial support from the beginning of the company to the growth and maturity periods of the company," he said. "It is not possible to demand that credit is limited to start-ups. "He said. 


However, there is a view that it is unlikely that the recommendation for the innovation council is compulsory and that the financial authorities are not going to handle the current system for large-scale IBs. 

Most of the case, startups like to have quick loans but there are not many banks or financial service firms that offer fast services. Even if they provide all documents and they still have to wait weeks to get the fund from them. 

An official from the Financial Investment Association said, "Instead of expanding the corporate credit limit to 100 percent of its capital and expanding it to 200 percent, the proposed amendment to the ultra-large IB was limited to lending only to SMEs for an increase of 100 percent. "We also have restrictions on companies." 


Meanwhile, five securities firms, including Mirae Asset Daewoo, NH Investment & Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities and KB Securities (based on first-tier equity capital rankings) were designated as super large IBs.

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 17:23 / Startups



One of the factors that determine the success of global market entry is the business strategy for localization. Especially, the localization work of content companies, which plays a big role in the language and culture of the country like video games, is an essential element for success.

The game localization company Altagram, born in Berlin, Germany in 2013, provides a one-stop solution to help global game companies settle in, including game translation, dubbing, localization evaluation, and localization marketing. Demand for AltaGram services continues to increase as global game success is dominated by localization as well as game quality.

Altagram, which is planning to enter the Asian market beyond Europe, is currently participating in the Kaystat Upper Grand Challenge 2017 with a domestic start-up accelerator venture port. The company plans to establish its position as a game localization solution company in the Korean market. We met with Camilla Belcaïd Le Flem, Managing Director of Altagram Asia and heard about Altagram's solutions and the Korean game market.


"Alta grams offer everything from simple text translation to graphics, audio, style, and marketing localization, all for game settlement. The more you focus on this localization, the higher the quality of the game and the more satisfied the players are.

Altagram has been localizing more than 3,500 games with large global game companies such as Blizzard, Supercell, and SEGA as well as Indy Games. Localization work will involve a team of AltaGram headquarters experts, 600 freelance translators, and more than 80 partner studios. "We run our own studios directly in Berlin and collaborate with our global partner studios to provide high-quality audio and dubbing services for each locale," Kamiya said.

Kamiya also mentioned Localization Quality Assurance and Localization Quality Evaluation as main services of Altagram. The local native language team performs language-focused localization such as texts and logos, and a team of experts and a local freelance tester, who is a team of experts, evaluate and evaluate the game's localization evaluation. Kamiya said, "Even if the game has already been localized, it can improve the quality of the game by evaluating the localization quality and culture level once more."

"Our client companies, SuperCell, Blizzard, and other large global companies are most concerned with the quality of their games. I also make great efforts to localize the game so that players feel like they are being respected in the game. So I think the game of these game companies can succeed. "

Altagram also takes transparency into service delivery. We have differentiated ourselves from other competitors by presenting transparently to customers how many people are involved and what kind of work they take when offering localization services.

If so, at what stage should game localization work? Kamiya advises that it is good to think about localization from the early stage of game development or from the middle stage. "Usually, we put all the resources into game development and hurry to localize a few weeks before launch," says Kamiya. "It's an unavoidable part of the game, but you should be careful because the quality of the game may deteriorate." said.


Kamiya is currently traveling to Korea and Germany to advance into the Korean market, and plans to announce the name of Altagram in Asian markets including Korea this year. In fact, Altagram has been participating in G-Star every year since its establishment in Korea, and has established a positive relationship with Korean game companies. "I participated in G-Star for the first time this year. I was really impressed by the Korean game market. The reason why Korea is so good is that it is open to technology and that you can watch games anywhere. The game environment is very good "

Kamiya pointed out that although the domestic game industry environment is better than any other country, the somewhat conservative attitude of domestic game companies is a factor preventing global success. Kamiya said, "Although Korean game companies make good games, they do not feel the need to advance into the global market." Of course, success in the domestic market is enough, but it is more conservative It seems to be a factor preventing the big growth, "he said.

Altagram hopes that this excellent Korean game will not only stay in Korea but will also stand out in the world through the solution of Altagram. Atagram has collaborated with domestic companies such as domestic game companies Kakao Game, NCsoft, 4:33, and next game to help them localize overseas.

Kamiya said, "We will establish a formal branch office in Korea this year and select additional Korean employees so that we can improve our business presence in Korea."

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 17:18 / Startups



Gyeonggi Province's content sector, the company's initial investment in the 'NEXEED' fund, which was created to invest in the company, is similar to 'Superman Fund' in operation. Superman funds and NEXEED funds, which are in operation to invest in venture businesses in the province, lack the distinction between investment and support companies, and it is necessary to supplement specific standards for fund support. 


According to the 2018 budget data analyzed by the Gyeonggi Provincial Budget Policy Officer on April 4, in order to expand investment in start-up content businesses in the province's content sector, which is relatively difficult to secure funds, the company plans to establish Nexed Funds 1 and 2 of 38 billion won in May 2016 did. Donated 5 billion won out of 18 billion won for the first NEXEED, and 2.2 billion won out of 20 billion won for the second. By the end of the year, the company will invest 3 billion won to build a third fund of 19 billion won.


However, the Budget Policy Officer analyzed the 12 companies that invested in Nex Seed Funds No. 1 and No. 2. As a result, it is pointed out that they are differentiated from those of Superman Fund investing companies, which have been operating since 2015 to foster small businesses and venture companies in the province. In fact, W has received investment support of 500 million won for the production of 'O2O service for imported cars' in No.1 seed fund No.1, and it has already received 700 million won in investment by introducing the same product in Superman Fund No.1. M company (1.9 billion won), which received investment support from Superman fund, is a mobile content producer. T company (500 million won) is a company that invests in a new seed fund by developing game software and mobile game W and D companies (300 million won, 500 million won, 1.5 billion won) are similar fields. In addition, the problem of the relatively low investment of the NEXEED Fund in the province is added. 


Among the 12 investment companies of NEXEED Fund 1 and 2, there are 5 companies within 7 years of the start-up period, and only 1.9 billion won (23%) out of the total investment amount of 8.2 billion won was invested in the enterprises in the early stage of establishment. Unlike the initial goal of initially investing in companies, there are three companies with more than 10 years of establishment, so it would be necessary to consider how to adjust the company's business to less than three years after the start-up. 


"The Supreme Mortgage Fund and the NEXEED Fund should clearly define the areas in which they want to invest, so that as many investment companies as possible can benefit from the investment support," said the Budget Policy Officer, "We need to look for ways to strengthen active investment support for companies in the province."



Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 17:12 / Startups


It is hard to find areas where machine learning and artificial intelligence are not applied. The job market is no exception. Artificial intelligence technology, which uses objective data to select people fairly and quickly, is also actively utilized.

Hatchme, a tailor-made recruitment service launched in Singapore last August, also analyzes the career of a job seeker and operates an artificial intelligence-based recruitment platform that matches talent to the company's talent. Hachimi, consisting of four people with start-up experience, is expanding its business by attracting more than 200 SMEs and more than 200 start-ups in Singapore and attracting angel and seed investments within a year.

I met with Phoebe Choong CMO of Hatchme, who plans to enter the Korean job market after Singapore this year, and I heard about the Korean job market that Hatchme service and Hachimi are looking at.

"The feature of the Hatchme platform is that it can write not only hard skills as technical skills but also soft skills as well. So far, many recruiting companies have only focused on the knowledge and skills of job seekers.

To use the Hatch service, you need to create a personal profile that will take about 20 minutes. The profile should include basic skills such as hard skills, soft skills, career, and personal preference. Hatchme, which is not recorded in the existing recruitment platform, is considered to be an important factor in the recruitment process.

Based on this profile, enterprise matching starts. Hatchme calculates the fit between the job seeker and the firm by reflecting the core values and corporate culture that the company presents through its own matching system. The company can conduct interviews individually with recruiters recommended by Hachimi. Hachimi aims to reduce the inefficiency of the general recruitment process through its own matching system and to provide recruitment services at 30-40% cost of general recruitment companies.

Hachimi's target audience is SMEs and start-ups. Like a big business, it does not have an open recruitment process, but it helps small business internships and new positions. The reason why Hachimi can be settled in the Korean market is that we plan to provide services to SMEs and start-ups rather than large companies.

"Big companies in Korea are open to hiring, but most small businesses and start-ups cannot do that," said Phoebe. "Hatchme sees opportunities here." In the Korean job market, there is an opportunity because there is an imbalance between demand and supply.

In fact, Hachimi conducted research on Hanyang University students in order to assess the possibility of entering Korea. "I talked to the students and it was not really a lot of students who wanted to start up or work in a small business. But all of them cannot go to large corporations. I definitely need services for job seekers who have not been able to go to large companies and I think Hatchimi can do that. "

Another reason why Hatchme ranked Korea as the next destination for Singapore is in the high educational background of job seekers. Phoebe said, "Korea has a very high level of education and has a lot of highly educated people every year, but it is having difficulty finding suitable jobs for them." There is a demand for small and medium enterprises and start-ups to find good talent, but resources are wasted because talent matching does not work properly. Hatchme is planning to establish a branch office in Korea next year and solve the problem in earnest.

"I came to Korea through the K-Start Up Grand Challenge 2017 Accelerating Program, and I think I have completed some adjustment to the market. I did not have many opportunities to meet Korean companies, but I intend to enter the Korean market in earnest with the goal of establishing a branch office in Korea next year.

Hatchme is also a child care team of domestic accelerator venture port, is going to compete with 40 overseas teams by climbing the Kaystat Up Grand Challenge 2017 Demo Day Final stage to be held from May 5 to 6 next month.


Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 17:07 / Startups



Tradlinx (CEO Park Min-kyu), a company specializing in logistics platforms for companies' import and export business, said that it won the prime minister's commendation for promoting venture start-up at the "2017 Venture Business Promotion Award Ceremony" held at COEX, Seoul,

The "Venture Business Venture Award" sponsored by the Venture Business Association, Venture Business Association, Korea Venture Capital Association, Korea Young Entrepreneurship Foundation, and Korea Business Incubator Association We are awarding companies with excellent competence and competitiveness and high social contribution. 'Recognition of the Prime Minister' by the 'Activation of Venture Businesses' is awarded to entrepreneurs who are operating companies that contribute to the national economy among those with high technological capabilities and high growth potential.

Park Min-gyu, CEO of Tradlinx, presented his own developed logistics platform, 'Treading', and received recognition for creating transparent and extensive export and import opportunities for domestic export-import companies based on its unique technology.

Treadling is a logistics platform that provides a variety of information to companies seeking to import or export products and to companies offering logistics services. △ Import and export logistics consulting, △ Forwarding company management and comparison quotation, △ Real-time position monitoring of cargo, △ Cargo history management, etc. Currently, 2,000 import and export companies and 20,000 users are in business.

Park Min-kyu said, "This award is very meaningful because it has been acknowledged that the whole Treadings team has endeavored to build a desirable export-import ecosystem and that it is very meaningful." He added, "With the innovative technology and differentiated services, I will do my best to lead a new paradigm and to make various domestic companies experience convenient import and export logistics business. " 
 
Meanwhile, Treadling was awarded the "2017 Excellent Small and Medium Logistics Company Award" in recognition of the improvement of the logistics environment through the import and export logistics service last October.

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 16:23 / Startups



Goodmorning ITT won the Technology Excellence Awards and the Statistical Service Awards twice in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and this time received the third prize as the Venture Business Minister. 


Good Morning ITT is partnering with Claude, a world-famous big data platform company based on Hadoop, and has been building big data infrastructure, consulting, and development, along with accumulated cloud virtualization know-how accumulated for existing customers in over 450 public and manufacturing companies . In recent years, he has also been receiving big data projects from financial, public and service clients such as Hyundai Capital, Korea Biotechnology Research Institute, Smile Gate, and POSTECH. Cloud Distributed Big Data platform, Claudera, provides flexible and scalable enterprise-class products and services that enable the collection, storage and analysis of Big Data in any environment, including Internet (IoT), Smart Factory, and Cloud. 


Claudera provides data engineering such as data extraction, loading and transformation (ETL), analysis database for data search and analysis such as advanced analysis and machine learning, and operation database (DB) for providing real- . In addition, the company claims that it is the only data platform that can take advantage of the cloud environment and integrate management from on-demand processing and analysis to various governance and compliance according to user needs. 

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 16:18 / Startups




Strong measures are taken such as the recommendation of stopping production and sales for products that imitate the idea of product type and a business appearance by infringing ideas of small, venture, start-up etc. in the future. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced on May 5 that it recommended to Mom Love, a company that imitated and produced a substitute meal product developed by Ignis, a new small business, to stop production and sale of the product.


We also recommended that we stop selling to Homeplus, which bought and sold the food.


This measure is the first detection case after amending the Unfair Competition Prevention Act to grant permission to investigate and correct the unfair competition behavior in order to block the idea of social underage.


The patent research, a product named among mother love 'banhada meals "that mimics the rap noswi" Since August of this year with Igniz founded in 2015 been selling meal replacement shake products called' lab noswi 'since last September, Production, and sales.


The KIPO decided that the two products, as well as individual elements such as container form, shrink label design attached to the container, and powdered contents, as well as the combined form of these elements, were the same.


The KIPO plans to file a complaint with investigative agencies such as the police and prosecutors if it does not fulfill the recommendation for discontinuing production and sales in the past 30 days.


Along with this, it decided to strengthen the enforcement investigation on the imitation of the commodity type. To prevent damage, such as start-up SMEs due to the form of imitation goods is also increasing survey dedicated workforce, it will also promote the planning and ex officio investigation of the commodity form to emulating a particular behavior of industries, including many food and clothing.


From January next year, it will also operate a counterfeit goods report center and will rescue companies affected by unfair competition.


The KIPO hopes that this measure will reduce the imitation of commodities that are pervasive in the market, such as "Me-Too" products in the food industry.


The Intellectual Property Office Deputy said "commodity form imitating behavior cost and effort without the unfair act of free riding on the market occupancy gains of the preceding Developer" "Forward commodity form imitating behavior, as well as sales Exterior imitation, ideas, deodorant, etc. unfair competition in various forms I will strengthen the crackdown against him, "he said.

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 16:14 / Startups



'TSE Woori - Chungnam 11th Turnaround Investment Union'


Venture / Mid-term support fund that dreams of resurgence


Chungnam province, small and medium-sized venture business department, and Woori bank formed an investment union and set up arms to support innovative enterprises in Chungcheong province and re-start-up ventures and SMEs.


Chungnam Province announced that it held the 'TSU-Chungnam 11th turnaround investment union formation general meeting' with the participation of fund investors at the TS Investment meeting room of Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 4th.


The funds managed by the investment union are planned to operate for 8 years, including W3bn in Chungcheongnam-do, W8bn in government-funded funds, W10bn in Woori Bank, and 2bn in fund management companies, to KRW63bn.


The investment union will invest in innovative companies that have headquarters, main offices and factories in the province, and venture and small and medium enterprises that have been re-established after closing.


Starting next year, technology innovation companies and re-start small / venture companies in the province will be able to receive at least 6 billion won through examination of the investment union.


For inquiries about fund application and investment combination, please refer to Corporate Affairs and Trade Section.


"This fund is designed to provide tailor-made support from the start-up of venture capital and small and medium-sized enterprises to the childcare stage in response to the government policy of revitalization and re-start-up," said Lee Dong-soo, I am looking forward to supporting local promising start-up companies and resurgent enterprises. "

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 16:09 / Startups



It is one of the stories that I myself heard a lot from the surrounding people. Perhaps it would have been more if I had a thin and diverse experience, or my life was not as easy as a major like me. Even now the word struggle in your mind when you challenge the fate that many youth projects " contacts want Maybe this".

But is this "networking" necessary before starting a business? If it was a few years ago, I would say "yes," but I do not think so.


I once heard a rumor saying that if you are a professor or a big business owner when you start a co-venturer in a lecture or go into a start-up team, you should not join. In other words, when an early company is faced with survival, it can prefer a product (or service) solicitation to a junior or relative rather than a business with a face-to-face ridiculousness. As a result, it is likely that the feedback of product (or service) packed in a cheer pack will be missed, and that there is a high possibility that when the limit of sales force through acquaintance approaches, It may sound ridiculous but it is a horse with bones. I agree that networking should never be my customer.


Naturally, it is true that whatever you start with your contacts. However, it does not change the starting point. Networking is never my prospect but my support force. Let's take an example. Imagine if I was an insurance planner or a car salesperson. I sold insurance or automobiles on my network, but because I know people, I have increased my rebates and discounts, so profits have decreased. I can make money for a certain period of time through my network, but how do people think of me? The same is true of the multi-levels, as are some religions who commit indiscreet evangelism. Using yours to make my interests only makes the relationship go crazy.


Most of the above cases are also the status of individual carriers. What do you think? Do you look good in business because you have a network? In other words, it is the same as having a selfish idea that "I have many people to use for my benefit" when it is advantageous when business is great at most.


Of course, it is true that the connections are really important in business. There should be a link, but there will be an area available, and there will be some areas that can be traded for trust. However, if you want to get the link and the trust in a short time, you will have to pay that much. Therefore, the connections in the business should be a very sensitive and careful approach to the center of "Gib and Take" thoroughly. In particular, you should keep in mind that no matter how close you are in business, you know that you are a junior, you are not just an acquaintance. Time is money, time is life. If I have asked for help through my network in my business, the next time I find a way to help is the way to keep in touch. So even if you have absolutely no contacts in your business, you should refrain from saying "I need your talent, your resources in my business, lend me". If the network is not a volunteer, you will not find yourself first.


If so, the question "Can I do business without any contacts?" "What you need is a network that you make yourself. " Most of us have limited contacts. Let's say you have a prestigious MBA. Are all good motivations working on the same item or working in similar jobs? It will not be absolute. "Networking is the capture of the minds of those who come into contact with the ecosystem in which I have ventured into life as an adventure."


So if your company colleagues, your friends, and your parents say, "What business are you going to do if you do not have contacts?" It's just a matter of worrying about the troubles of early businessmen who have a hard time. If you take your life to succeed, you will be overflowing even if you do not want to make connections. Even if you have been challenged by it, but you do not have any contacts, I hope you are lucky to have my chair turned off.

Smart Money / 2017. 12. 5. 16:02 / Startups



Like a person's fingerprint, a dog has a distinctive shape of nose wrinkles, which is called an inscription.


There is a commission to register photographs of inscriptions and to develop recognizable skills. Even if you do not have a built-in chip, it's been a long time since you left home so you can easily find your dog if your appearance changes.


Seoul Metropolitan City's NPO Support Center announced on May 5 that it will open a showcase to introduce five nonprofit start-ups such as the Animal Cognition Research Center at Gangnam Bank's Young Business Foundation (Di Camp) on the 6th.


The NPO Support Center is an interim support organization between the city of Seoul and nonprofit organizations, and is helping citizens 'public interest activities and NPOs' sustainable growth.


This year, we provided grants to five nonprofit startups selected through the screening and operated a three-month incubation program.


The 'Crunchy Box Project', which was selected by the Animal Cognition Research Institute, is building an online platform that connects donors and neighbors in the welfare blind spot.


'Sysblo' is developing a playground program where local college students become sisters, older brothers, and sisters and play safely with their children.


Citizens interested in non-profit start-up showcases can participate in NPO Support Center website (seoulnpocenter.kr) after applying.

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