From Yonsama to Hodong Hyung... Startups That Even 'Stars' Are Investing In

Kang Ho-dong Invests 100 Million KRW Seed Funding in Startup Korea Green Data
Bae Yong-joon Recently Became Angel Investor in AirTalk Developer Ecrocs
Ryu Seung-ryong, Oh Jung-se Join Domestic AC Preenhance as Shareholders

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Thanks to the second venture boom, celebrity investments in startups are becoming more active. Rather than just simple investments, some celebrities are involved in devising scale-up strategies or marketing from the startup phase. As the domestic venture ecosystem grows, startup investments, which were previously limited to professional investment institutions or companies, have expanded into the entertainment industry. Celebrities who directly establish startups are also emerging one after another.

According to the related industry on the 4th, the startup Korea Green Data received seed investment worth 100 million KRW from broadcaster Kang Ho-dong last month. Korea Green Data is a newly established startup developing energy management solutions, founded in July last year. At the time of the seed investment, CEO Lee Si-won of Siwon School also invested about 100 million KRW together with Kang Ho-dong. Kang Ho-dong is known to actively invest in startups introduced through acquaintances. This investment by Kang Ho-dong was also made through an introduction by CEO Lee.

Celebrity investments have continued in other startups as well. Actor Bae Yong-joon is a representative example. Recently, Bae Yong-joon participated as an angel investor in Ecrocs, a developer of the air management Internet of Things (IoT) solution ‘AirTalk’. Ecrocs is a startup established this March by energy consultants and engineers from KAIST. Rock singer Kim Jong-seo is considering investing in the food tech startup Jeok Company. Jeok Company is a startup that developed ‘Kimchi Energy,’ an energy carbonated drink based on kimchi concentrate, after three years of research and development (R&D). It also signed an export contract with Japanese distributor SS early last month.

Actor Ryu Seung-ryong joined as an early shareholder of Accelerator (AC) Preenhance. The photo shows actor Ryu Seung-ryong visiting 'Sannoru' Samsung branch, which Preenhance invested in. [Photo by Preenhance Instagram capture]

There are also cases where celebrities directly participate in nurturing companies, not just investing. Actors Ryu Seung-ryong, Oh Jung-se, and Lee Joon joined as shareholders in the accelerator (AC) Prain Hans. Prain Hans is a company established in November last year by domestic PR firm Prain Global to make early investments in startups and nurture them through marketing. The actors who joined as shareholders, including Ryu Seung-ryong, are actively involved in marketing for startups invested in by Prain Hans. Oh Jung-se and Lee Joon appeared in cooking videos of Johnny Dumpling, a restaurant meal replacement (RMR) startup and one of Prain Hans’ three portfolio companies. Having experienced the high-impact ‘star marketing’ effect, Prain Hans plans to actively utilize actors who are shareholders in future startup marketing. They are also considering ways to increase the number of celebrity shareholders.

There are also celebrities who have founded startups themselves. Yubin, a singer formerly of the idol group ‘Wonder Girls,’ launched the fashion brand ‘Debi Upper’ targeting women in their 20s and 30s this month. Earlier, Yubin founded the entertainment agency ‘Le’ last year. Le received early investment from Dunamu & Partners, an investment affiliate of Dunamu. Considering that Dunamu & Partners mainly focuses on investments in blockchain, fintech, and artificial intelligence (AI) startups, the investment in Le is regarded as unusual.

In the United States, celebrity investments in startups are already active. There is even a term called ‘Tech-Celestor,’ a blend of Technology, Celebrity, and Investor. Actor Ashton Kutcher has long been a major investor in large IT startups such as Uber, Pinterest, and Airbnb. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio focuses his investments on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) startups. DiCaprio also invested in Beyond Meat, an alternative meat venture that went public on the US Nasdaq in 2019. Recently, he attracted attention by consecutively acquiring shares in alternative meat startups ‘Aleph Farms’ and ‘Mosa Meat.’