[NE Coffee Chat] Startingline: "Supporting Startups to Go from Zero to One"

Discovered and Invested in 25 Early-Stage Startups
Supporting Growth Through a Network of Over 40 Venture Partners

Startups founded on trust in their team or technology often face numerous challenges. There are many issues-investment, hiring, marketing, and legal systems-that cannot be solved by the team and technology alone. To help early-stage startups overcome these hurdles, Seokmin Park established Startingline in 2019. The role of Startingline is to support early-stage startups across various industries in going from zero to one. Park’s expertise as a founder, along with a network of over 40 venture partners, forms the backbone of this support.

Seokmin Park, CEO of Starting Line

On the 25th, CEO Park stated, "Early-stage investors must be able to help startups in a wide range of fields," adding, "To this end, we have secured groups of experts from various industries." Startingline, as an accelerator, currently has an external expert group of about 40 people. This group includes industry professionals with the deepest understanding of their fields, as well as founders and academics. Recently, the network has been expanding to include global market entry and overseas investment. These experts serve as mentors for startups in which Startingline has made early investments and also help identify promising startups. Rather than increasing the number of internal reviewers, Startingline’s strategy is to utilize this external expert network and provide incentives when results are achieved. Park said, "For startups, it is important to devise and design strategies for follow-on investment and connect them with the right advisors," adding, "I am always searching for venture partners who can be helpful."

Through these efforts, Startingline has discovered and invested in 25 early-stage startups to date. The company has also helped these startups build their businesses. Since investments have been made at the pre-seed stage, the investment amount per company has been within 300 million won. However, these investments have served as seeds for startup growth. Concrete results are beginning to materialize, with some invested startups advancing to the Series B stage. A representative example is Mineis, which operates the fashion recommerce platform Charan and recently raised 16.8 billion won in a Series B funding round. Park explained, "We invested at the concept stage, based solely on the founder and team," adding, "We have created momentum by connecting them with professionals and introducing them to global investors."

Among the many startups he encounters, Park is currently focusing on two key areas. The first is the technological trend of artificial intelligence (AI), with the goal of identifying promising early-stage companies in this space. He cited his investment in the Canadian AI startup Cohere as an example. "When AI is adopted by enterprises, I am looking for companies with strong brands or intellectual property that can stand out during the optimization process," he said. The second focus is the global market. Park noted, "The Korean market is limited, and many startups do not know how to begin when they want to expand overseas. There are also many overseas buyers who are unaware of Korea’s strengths," adding, "Startingline can provide support in these areas."

Such active engagement by Startingline is deeply rooted in Park’s own experience. Since his first venture in 2015, he has walked the path of a serial entrepreneur. He has worked at the forefront of startup management as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Lacerata and Zinam, and as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Park said, "I wanted to create impact using my experience and network," adding, "I believe I can help early-stage startups get started with the know-how I have accumulated so far."

However, Park does not intend to limit his future role to supporting early-stage startups. He is also considering various revenue-generating business directions for future growth. "Through Startingline, we can develop and manage great ideas," he said, "and we are seeking opportunities for IT-driven innovation in fields such as attracting foreign patients and overseas study-related businesses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.