Wadiz 'Startup Finder' Grows 12x in 3 Months

Untact Era Online IR in the Spotlight

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), online demo days are spreading in the startup investment industry. Wadiz (CEO Shin Hye-sung) announced on the 8th that the key indicators of its online investment presentation (IR) service "Startup Chatgi," launched in May, have grown 12 times in just three months. Startup Chatgi is a service that connects individual and institutional investors with startups under the concept of a "business card for startups."

First, looking at the age distribution of users of Startup Chatgi, those in their 30s accounted for 39%, and those in their 40s accounted for 26%, showing that 7 out of 10 users belong to the '3040 generation.' In particular, all indicators within the service have increased significantly. Based on the second and third quarters of this year, the 'Likes,' which indicate investors' interest in specific companies compared to the previous period, increased by 2749%, and the 'IR document request approval,' where investors request and approve viewing of IR materials of interested companies, increased by 994%. Additionally, visitors to the service also increased by 88%.

By category, in the business field, the number of views increased significantly in the order of ▲Lifestyle ▲Content ▲Manufacturing ▲Bio & Healthcare ▲Logistics & Distribution. By technology used, the total number of views increased in the order of ▲Platform ▲Big Data ▲E-commerce ▲Artificial Intelligence ▲Data Solution.

Moreover, cases of inter-company collaboration using Startup Chatgi are emerging one after another. A representative example is the plan to promote agri-food venture companies using Startup Chatgi at the "6th Agri-food Startup Contest," conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Foundation for Agricultural Technology Commercialization and Transfer.

Yoon-hee Bae, Director of the Investment Team at Wadiz, said, "As non-face-to-face interactions have become commonplace in daily life due to COVID-19, the online demo day format, rather than face-to-face, seems to have become a trend in the startup investment market." She added, "In the second half of the year, inquiries for partnerships from companies and institutions using Startup Chatgi are increasing, and through various partnerships, we expect to inject great vitality into the domestic startup investment market."