Startup Recipe: Unveiling the Global Recipe for Korean Startup Success

Korean startup hub, Startup Recipe, connects startups with the world. Their news, events, and services foster networking, knowledge sharing, and investment opportunities. They advise startups, collaborate on government programs, and even provide co-working spaces. With global reach and industry recognition, Startup Recipe bridges the gap between Korean innovation and the international market, empowering businesses to launch and scale. With that, why don’t you join me in learning more about Startup Recipe with its Editor in Chief, Sungho Choo.

Could you tell us more about yourself and how you entered the media space in South Korea? 

I am Sungho Choo, the Editor and Chief of Startup Recipe. I've always had a dream of working in the media, and I've been working as a startup journalist for 7 to 8 years now.

I think the Korean startup scene began to grow from around 2015, and I witnessed the actual growth of unicorn startups and the Korean startup ecosystem as a journalist. At that time, there wasn't much interest in startups, and there weren't any famous startups either. Working in the startup scene during such times was a meaningful experience. The reason I became a startup journalist was because I eventually wanted to run a startup myself, and I thought interviewing many CEOs would be helpful. 

Now I am currently working as a founding member of Startup Recipe, having found a great CEO partner.  We were former coworkers. The CEO brings over 20 years of experience as an IT journalist, while I specialize in the startup field. With expertise in tech and startups, we started Startup Recipe with the goal of delivering information to startups in a new way.

What is Startup Recipe's vision for the Korean startup ecosystem?

Startup Recipe is a newsletter-based startup media where you can receive startup news and funding news via email from Monday to Saturday. Our vision is to become a startup hub where everyone involved in the Korean startup ecosystem, including investors, government agencies, and entrepreneurs, can obtain useful startup information. Our goal is to become the best information resource essential for startups.

We operate global services too. We have been running newsletters on a weekly basis for the past two years, but recently we have been updating them daily. If you subscribe to it you can  get Korean startup news weekly. Through our global site, we have a desire to promote Korean startups abroad. The reason we have partnered with more than 10 global media outlets, including techshake, is also because we want to assist Korean startups in expanding internationally

I also hope Startup Recipe can be utilized as a great channel for learning about Korean startups abroad. In fact, we often receive inquiries asking for introductions to Korean startups or proposals to collaborate on events after people visit our site. Last year, we also organized meetups to connect Korean startups aspiring to enter Japan with Japanese venture capitalists in seoul.

What is your mission as a platform, and how are you striving to achieve it?

As mentioned earlier, we want to be a necessary information hub for startups. We are delivering startup interviews and venture capital insights to our readers through various channels such as newsletters and YouTube in addition to the newsletter format.

What makes Startup Recipe's coverage of the Korean startup scene unique?

Our strength is that we are a data-driven media. We not only cover all the news happening in the Korean startup scene but also consider the information related to investments to be exclusive. We gather investment news data every day and use it as the basis for creating monthly investment reports. These reports are being viewed by many investors, startups, and government agencies, and we are the only media providing such data-driven investment reports. Investment information is also available in English. Until last year, we issued annual investment reports in English, but this year, we have published them only in Korean.

What impact has Startup Recipe had on the Korean startup community?

Many startups and investors say that they appreciate being able to quickly review a day's worth of startup news within 5 minutes through the Startup Recipe newsletter. Many media outlets quote our data-driven articles, and even the government utilizes our articles and data to understand the startup landscape. Our deep-dive startup ecosystem reports are also our strength.

How do you see Startup Recipe evolving in the next few years?

We anticipate becoming a more active player in the global market. We want to connect with more overseas startup organizations and meet more startups.

Sungho Choo is the Editor in Chief of Startup Recipe. Sungho is responsible for strategizing content, curating content, networking, and advocating for the company’s mission and vision. She is a pivotal figure in enabling Startup Recipe to achieve its goals. As witnessed in this interview, Sungho is incredibly passionate about exposing Korean startups to the international stage, while at the same time providing these startups with valuable information. 

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with Startup Recipe.