Startup investments in August advance in blockchain and AI fields…raised a total of 442.5 billion won

The domestic startup investment market continued its momentum in August by attracting a total of 442.5 billion won. On the 3rd, according to a report by Innovation Forest, a startup growth analysis platform, 97 companies succeeded in securing new investments, and especially the blockchain and AI·deep tech sectors ranked first in both number of companies and investment amount.

The blockchain, AI and deep tech sectors led the market by raising a total of 146.6 billion won. Upstage (62 billion won), Friendlier AI (27.5 billion won), SelectStar (20.5 billion won) and others secured large-scale investments, demonstrating concentrated investor interest. A total of 17 investments were made in the sector, putting it first in deal count as well.

Following them, the healthcare·bio sector raised 86.3 billion won and the manufacturing·hardware sector raised 51.5 billion won, ranking second and third in investment amount respectively. Investment counts were also high, with healthcare·bio at 16 deals and manufacturing·hardware at 10 deals, showing stable growth.

This settlement shows that AI-based technology sectors, including blockchain, have emerged as key growth drivers of the domestic startup investment market. Hong Kyung-pyo, CEO of Mark & Company, the operator of Innovation Forest, said, "August was a period in which the AI·deep tech·blockchain sectors showed an overwhelming presence as a single category," and "It seems that various forms of investment opportunities will continue to be created in those sectors."