« TechCrunch : Leading Seoul Accelerator SparkLabs Presents Its Fifth Startup Batch »
Friday, June 26, 2015 at 4:23AM | DFSB Kollective 
With its high smartphone penetration rate, extremely speedy broadband, and government support, South Korea’s startup ecosystem is one of the most notable in Asia.
SparkLabs, one of Seoul’s top accelerators is hoping its fifth batch will produce new success stories (alumni include online beauty product retailer Memebox, another one of Korea’s top-funded startups).
The twelve companies that presented during its Demo Day today include two security companies that have the potential to expand globally: Lockin, which wants to make it easier for developers to integrate cloud-based security into their Android apps, and Qubit Security, which operates a hacking detection platform called Plura to sniffs out attacks as soon as they happen.
On the consumer side, streaming site DropBeat wants to become the top source for electronic dance music, while Way, a device that helps users customize skincare regimens, has raised $105,000, more than twice its target, on Indiegogo.
Other companies include: LoanVi, a peer-to-peer lending platform and SparkLabs’ first investment in Vietnam; Genoplan, which uses genetic testing to customize fitness and nutrition programs; PiQuant, a food-tech startup that checks for melamine in milk and plans to target countries like China where food safety is a major concern; wearable products maker Leemyungsu Design Lab (its first product is a backpack for cyclists); Townus, a group-buying platform for university students; social network-based job recruiting platform Wanted Lab; holographic virtual reality developer DoubleMe; and Evain, which filters out spam and phishing phone calls.
Treeplanet, which participated in SparkLabs’ fourth class but showcased its product at today’s event, is a crowdfunding platform for reforestation projects.
SparkLabs Demo Day 5 : Movies, Music and Mayhem Panel
Netflix and Amazing are continually disrupting movie and TV viewing habits and production cycles. Both of these companies have already received Golden Globe nominations and have traditional TV and cable companies wondering where the next blindside hit will come from. Other disruptors include Hulu, Maker Studios and YouTube.
YouTube is also trying to disrupt the music industry since millions of people use YouTube as their default music source. The initial music wars resulted in Spotify and other streaming services leaving Apple in the dust and forced the tech giant to play catch up and acquire Beats for $3 billion. Will Apple's new streaming service beat out Spotify? Will there be new disruptors launching in the coming years? How has all this uncertainty affected music artists and the overall industry? The panel speakers are: Marc Randolph (Co-founder of Netflix), Sam Wick (EVP of Business Development and Operations at Maker Studios), Andreas Ehn (Founding CTO of Spotify) and moderated by Bernie Cho (President of DFSB Kollective).
Panel Moderator : Bernie Cho [DFSB Kollective]