Urunet Acquires Start Art Korea... Full-Scale Entry into the K-Art Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] J-Storm Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of IT specialist company Woorinet, announced on the 20th that it has completed the acquisition process including the management rights of Start Art Korea, a specialized art company.

Start Art Korea manages exhibitions and overseas expansion for over 30 exclusive artists both domestic and international, including Kim Tae-ho, Kim Byung-jong, Lee Ae-ri, and Regina Kim.

Recently, it has been leading art trends favored by the MZ generation through entertainer artists such as Gian84 and Nancy Lang, making it a specialized art-related company.

It is also an investor and licensee of Start Art Global, which partners with the Saatchi Gallery in London, UK, a representative of contemporary art, and holds art fairs annually.

In particular, this September, the Start Art Fair, which had been held at the Saatchi Gallery in London, will be hosted in Seoul at Galleria Foret The Seouliteum from September 1 to 6 under the name 'StART ART FAIR SEOUL 2022'.

Woorinet established J-Storm Co., Ltd., a subsidiary with a capital of 9.5 billion KRW, in February this year to newly enter the K-culture based digital platform business as part of its business diversification process.

Woorinet and J-Storm are entering the K-Art field starting with this acquisition of Start Art Korea. In addition, in June, they signed a business agreement with RBW, the agency of Mamamoo, and invested in DSP Media, a subsidiary of RBW, thus also progressing in the K-Pop content platform business.

CEO Choi Jong-shin stated, "Through digital platforms utilizing IT technology, we plan to promote K-culture to the global market and build a mutually beneficial ecosystem where participants in the cultural industry, including stakeholders, can generate profits. To this end, we will sequentially develop IP-centered business plans linked with various fields of Korean cultural content."

Meanwhile, Woorinet is a 20-year-old IT specialist company that develops and supplies wired and wireless network configuration products such as optical packet transmission equipment, Eum 5G, Access Gateway (AGW), and cellular-Internet of Things (IoT).