Korean startup solutions for a post-COVID world
You could use any number of adjectives to describe the past year and a half. The world was faced with extraordinary challenges, and startups stepped up to the plate. They came up with myriad solutions to connect us remotely at home, at work, and in the classroom. And in today’s environment, those remote qualities make startups stronger and more scalable.
So last week on May 26, we invited six startups building Remote Solutions to pitch at our first Podium Star of 2021.
Event Recap
Before each event, we spend a month scouting for the best startups. Then, we support the selected teams with messaging, pitch coaching, and founder videos that we produce called Vision60. You can watch our Vision60 videos for each founder here.
While Podium Star is traditionally held offline, we’ve temporarily moved the event online to follow local laws and to ensure everyone’s safety. It’s also a great way for people around the world to watch. Last week’s event drew 199 unique visitors from 28 countries!
The Startups
Here are the six startups who pitched. And if you’d like to learn more about them, just go here.
BeAptive: An education-focused social media application for students under 13.
Collectors: Centralized wishlist app that saves online shoppers time
EKI: Safe and fun learning platform on sexual education
Airfob by MOCA: Airfob makes smart, card-free access a reality
Pindle: Global super app for travellers
Youngpro: Platform where talent meets opportunity
Our Judges
Podium Star has been lucky to attract VCs and corporate executives that act more like mentors than judges. From Switzerland to Japan, we’d like to give a special thanks to those who joined this time. Their practical advice was extremely valuable to the startups pitching.
- Yoon Kim, Venture Partner at Storm Ventures (Korea)
- Jie Lun Ong, Director of Ventures at Plug and Play APAC (Singapore)
- Axel Schultze, Chairman at World Innovations Forum (Switzerland)
- Jin Tanaka, Managing Partner at Shogun Capital (Japan)
- Sophie Yao, General Manager at Pegasus Tech Ventures (China)
Korea’s Fastest Growing Startup
While the audience and judges were voting, we interviewed Andy Kim, founder of Business Canvas. Founded just last summer, Business Canvas has become the fastest growing startup in the country, achieving an impressive amount of traction. In just nine months, they developed an MVP, accumulated a waitlist of thousands of customers, raised a $2 million round, and will soon join Techstars London. Business Canvas is also an alumnus of Podium Star, pitching last November at our SaaS event.
After the interview with Andy, we saw a special demo of their product, Typed, from marketing manager Hyejoon Yoon. Typed is an all-in-one tool for business documentation creation.
And The Winner Is…
We wish we could reward every team for their amazing pitches, but our judges and audience had to choose just one.
Coming out in 1st place was Airfob by MOCA. Their cloud-based Airfob solution is disrupting the $120 billion physical security industry, making it friendly for remote and hybrid work. CEO Andrew Kim, who pitched, said
“Thanks, Podium Star. This event gives back so much value to startups that pitch. We’re honored to have won and will continuously innovate and challenge ourselves to reshape the future of the physical security industry.”
Congratulations again to Andrew and this team! As the winner, we’ll see you again at Seoul Pitch Day in December.
About Podium Star
Since 2019, Podium Star has put on over a dozen events and become known as the hottest startup event in Korea. That’s because Podium Star isn’t like other pitch events. It’s fast-moving, exciting, and the audience gets to engage directly with the startups.
But it’s more than just a pitch competition. After scouting the best startups in Korea, we help each team perfect their pitch with support in messaging, deck design, and video filming. Then, we put them on stage in front of relevant investors, accelerators, and supporters. Since pitching at Podium Star, many of our startups have gone on to attract investment, become acquired, increase revenue, and join top accelerators.
Are you interested in partnering with Korea’s hottest pitch event? Get in touch here.
For a full video recap of Podium Star: Remote Solutions, watch this space.
