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- Period : 9 Feb., 2026 ~ 15 Feb., 2026
Catch up on last week’s top stories from the startup ecosystem in the Korean Startup Weekly News.
Headline
Korea’s Venture Investment Surges 14% to $9.6B in 2025
Korea’s venture investment hit $9.6B in 2025 (+14% YoY), with four new unicorns including AI chip makers Rebellions and FuriosaAI bringing the total to 27. Private capital drove record fund formations.
Korean Government
K-StartHub Opens Applications for Korea’s Largest Startup Incubation Facility
Korea’s largest startup hub K-StartHub is accepting applications for its first cohort. Located in Hongdae, it’ll support Korean and foreign startups going global, with SK Telecom, Hyundai E&C, and international investors on board.
Check out the latest funding news for Korean startups
Galux Secures $28.8M Series B for AI-Powered Antibody Drug Design
AI antibody design company GALUX closes $28.8M Series B, bringing total funding to $46.6M to advance world-class de novo drug design platform.
Frefins Raises $3.4M to Build Data-Driven AI-Powered Rental Finance Infrastructure
Korean rental transformation startup FREFINS raises $3.4M pre-Series A from Hyundai Motor Zero1, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, and others to scale its AI-powered rental finance platform managing 400+ receivables without default.
No-Code Quant Trading Platform Time Percent Secures Funding
Korea’s Time Percent secures funding from CNTTech & DB Capital for its no-code quant trading platform ‘Trading Bank’, democratizing algorithmic investing for retail traders.
Dfinite Secures Seed Funding for AI-Powered Enterprise Data Integration Platform
Korean AI startup Dfinite secures seed funding from Korea Investment Accelerator and KOSME for DARVIS, an AI platform that integrates enterprise data without infrastructure changes. The company has also been selected for the TIPS program.
PROTEINER Secures Seed Funding to Expand High-Protein Fast Food Chain
Korean high-protein fast food startup PROTEINER secures seed funding from Schmidt and others to expand its sous vide-based healthy dining chain across Seoul.
ROBOROAD Secures Seed Funding to Automate Road Maintenance with AI Robots
Korean startup ROBOROAD secures seed funding from Seoul Techno Holdings, BNK Venture Investment & BDC Accelerator for AI-powered robotic road maintenance system. Also selected for TIPS program with $343K in government R&D support.
Meet startups that are striving for global expansion through exclusive interviews
[Korean Startup Interview] UBITAS Biotech: Pioneering Next-Generation Protein Degradation Technology to Transform Cancer Treatment
UBITAS Biotech is pioneering Protea-Tac, a first-in-class protein degradation platform that eliminates disease-causing proteins without ubiquitin, achieving proven anti-cancer results.
[Korean Startup Interview] BioArchers: Revolutionizing Oral Drug Delivery with NanoLink™ Platform Technology
BioArchers develops NanoLink™, an oral drug delivery platform using mesoporous silica nanoparticles to transform injectable peptide drugs like GLP-1 into once-weekly oral treatments with dramatically improved bioavailability.
