Idea and Advanced Technology Integration Drive Rapid Growth of 'Silver Tech' Startups
Domestic Silver Industry Market Expected to Reach 168 Trillion Won by 2030
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] ‘Silver Tech’ is on the rise. Interest in technologies that help solve various problems arising from the increasing elderly population has surged. Despite a contraction in the venture investment market, startups introducing new technologies in the silver tech sector are attracting significant funding.
Silver tech startup Bosal-pim recently announced that it secured pre-Series A funding from Kakao Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Smilegate Investment, and Strong Ventures. Bosal-pim operates the caregiver matching platform ‘Care Partner.’ It succeeded in raising investment just five months after launching the service in July last year. Investors judged that Bosal-pim’s technology, which connects care institutions, caregivers, and care service users for more rational matching, is promising. Kim Chi-won, Managing Director at Kakao Ventures, explained, "The care market is likely to grow centered on caregivers who can assist elderly people in need of digital healthcare services."
Even during last year’s so-called ‘investment winter,’ large sums flowed into silver tech startups in the care market. A representative example is Careing, which raised about 30 billion KRW in Series A funding in the second half of the year. More than ten investors participated, including LB Investment, SV Investment, DSC Investment, Korea Omega Investment & Finance, KB Investment, Aju IB Investment, NH Venture Investment, and Kyobo Securities. Careing was also named a ‘pre-unicorn,’ indicating a corporate value exceeding 100 billion KRW. Careing matches caregivers with elderly people who have received care protection grades and provides home care services.
The Korea Senior Research Institute also received 11 billion KRW in Series A funding in 2021 and is developing a comprehensive solution for home-based care services. Recently, it has been actively expanding into welfare equipment sales and distribution.
Silver tech is not solely focused on care. Services targeting elderly populations who are economically active and enjoy leisure are also investment targets. Naeiru-ri, which operates ‘Ongoing,’ a regular delivery agency solution based on elderly manpower, completed pre-Series A funding of 1.18 billion KRW last month. Bluepoint Partners and HGI (HG Initiative) participated. Naeiru-ri employs elderly delivery workers as full-time employees to handle regular logistics deliveries. The service has shown rapid growth, with sales increasing 18-fold within one year of launch.
Bind, which operates ‘Athler,’ a leisure and sports platform targeting active seniors around their 60s, recently secured early-stage investment from Fast Ventures. Fast Ventures sees significant opportunities as so-called ‘active seniors’ spend heavily in the leisure and sports sectors.
The reason for the concentrated interest in silver tech is the continuously growing market size of the silver industry. The population aged 65 and over currently stands at 9.5 million. Statistics Korea forecasts that by 2040, the ultra-aged population aged 75 and over will exceed 51.4% of those aged 65 and above. Accordingly, the domestic silver industry is expected to grow from 72 trillion KRW in 2020 to 168 trillion KRW by 2030. Lee Jin-yeol, CEO of the Korea Senior Research Institute, said, "Aging will continue, and as the elderly population requiring support increases, the related market will expand."
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