Weekly VentureSquare Stories are summaries of some of the week’s top posts relating to the Korean startup and venture Industry.
CO-UP Share Projects
CO-UP Share is a project supporting startups or projects which aim to help find clear and creative solutions in the field of cooperative spending and a shared economy. Ejang, the founder of CO-UP reported on five of the different groups this week.
Cultour
A place for people to borrow and lend other people’s experiences. When Koreans go abroad they just end up going to the same places, taking photos, eating Korean food and not even getting to know the culture. One of the main reasons for this is that they don’t have any knowledge or experience of the area. Cultour wants to offer an alternative to what is offered by the usual travel agencies. If you are interested in sharing your experiences register at the website, follow Cultour on Twitter or send an e-mail.
Pumassi Power
Pumassi Power is a project which offers an education service for children. It focuses on bringing mothers living in the same area together to provide shared education to children such as reading, math and other subjects. The project aims to bring the talents of different mothers together to offer a happy and rich environment in which children can learn. While this also reduces the cost of education it also provides a happy experience for both children and mothers alike. A Pumassi Power website is currently in the works but you can access the Naver cafe here.
Bookoob
Bookoob — or Citizen’s Library, is service where anyone can become their own library service with the books that they own. Many who are into buying books will read a book once and not pick it up again for quite a long time. This service allows users to borrow and lend books from each others’ personal collections. Bookoob has run an open beta service since October last year and so far the problem of lost books has not come up. As of March this year the community has over 10,000 books available. Check out the website or the Facebook page for more information on the service.
Playplanet
Playplanet will essentially build a bridge to connect travelers with the locals of an area. It is a platform which uses crowd mapping to show hidden travel courses in various places on a map. Through this, travel packages and programs in lesser known places gain more attention and thus travelers can experience going to places that most tourists don’t usually go to. Users can also easily create their own itineraries through an easy drag-and-drop interface. Playplanet is not open yet but you can access their Facebook page or their Twitter account.
Wonderlend
Wonderlend is a service currently being developed which allows users to lend their idle devices to other users via a P2P platform. It is based around users being able to get items that they would like to use for a short period of time as fast as possible without having to buy it. Through the service it will be easy to borrow the item which will arrive by delivery. The borrower can return it once they have finished using it or somebody else needs it. Check out Wonderlend’s blog or like their Facebook page.
Do you want to become a Venture Capitalist?
Have you ever admired Silicon Valley venture capitalists? Have you ever wanted to feel connected to a venture and help them become successful through supporting them? Worried about whether you can become an investor or not? Here is something you can look forward to.
At K Cube Ventures we are looking to take on some venture capitalists. There are three traits that we would like for those working with us to have.
- Respect in working with startup companies
- A strong passion and desire to learn
- Insight into internet/mobile/game software companies
Experience is not that important. Those who have worked five years are okay, and likewise those who have worked 15-20 years is fine too. You do not have to be a finance professional and anyone in any of the categories below should be able to apply.
- Anyone who runs their own startup directly
- Worked at an internet portal, game publisher, communications company or other major IT firm
- Those who have experienced working in a step by step environment
- Those who think they have what it takes to become a venture capitalist
Those who are interested in helping startups and joining an early investment team can send their resume along with answers to the following three questions to recruit[at]kcubeventures.co.kr. (Please do not make it more than two pages.
- Why do I want to become a venture capitalist?
- Why would I do well?
- What is your impression of mobile and web services and why? (Not a report but a few a lines or paragraphs.)
Note: We are also planning to hire a university student intern. If you are interested in this please send us an e-mail answering the same questions above.
Get Ready for this year’s SuperstarM Competition!
Korea’s Leading Startup OpenIR and Entrepreneur Conference
- Date: May 31st (Thursday)
- Venue: Plaza Hotel, Jung-gu, Seoul
- Host: Maekyung Media Group
- Support: KTOA, VentureSquare
- Sponsors: KT, SKT, LGU+
Featuring:
- IT companies other than mobile-based will be included
- Startups which are up to five years old can apply
- Introduction of a 60 second elevator pitch
- Top Seven Startups to take part in an Upcoming Camp Event
* 한국의 스타트업 소식을 영어로 번역하여 알리는데 관심이 있고 동참하고 싶으신 분은 editor@venturesquare.net으로 연락주시기 바랍니다.
* If you are interested in sharing your ideas or company and translating them into Korean, feel free to e-mail us at editor@venturesquare.net