Women have been paving the path for entrepreneurs in every industry for many decades. Today, women around the world are establishing their own businesses in a variety of industries, including publishing, technology, fashion, broadcasting, and beauty. She Loves Tech South Korea 2021 organized by R3i Ventures showcased some of the best female entrepreneurs in Korea. The online event was hosted by Leesa Soulodre, General Partner at R3i Ventures, and Grace Jung, South Korea Partner of She Loves Tech and founder of GoTimo, a time and money management app for kids. In addition, thanks to the support of KIC Global and the venture capital ecosystem, there is now a global platform for South Korea that can plan an active role in supporting founders with knowledge, know-how, market access, and capital to accelerate their impact. 

As of March 2021, startups in South Korea had a combined valuation of $150 Billion dollars putting the city of Seoul as a top 5 startup hub in the world.

Female entrepreneurs are playing a major role in the economic development of South Korea. However, only 2% of venture capital goes to female startup founders. She Loves Tech aims to open up a global platform to showcase some of the top female entrepreneurs around the world. This is the first year that She Loves Tech has come to South Korea and hopefully it will not be the last.

Below is a list of 8 female entrepreneurs in Korea who are looking to build a global brand through their own hard work and strong drive. These female entrepreneurs in Korea are a great example of what women can do when they have the confidence to pursue what they desire and inspire others to do the same.

Female Founders in Korea to Watch

Jiwon Park – CEO of SAIB

Jiwon Park started SAIB in order to design high-quality sexual wellness products to create a positive impact for women. The aim is to empower women to be in charge of their own sexual health. Jiwon is a brand and design expert with over 13 years of experience in the space. She recognized that there was a huge lack of knowledge on sexual health and most of the contraceptives are targeted at men. However, major condoms contain cancer-causing Nitrosamine and chemical irritants such as Nonoxynol-9. Therefore, SAIB has creates high-quality & safe-to-use products using only natural, non-toxic ingredients. SAID sells its products directly through its eCommerce platform and global cross-border eCommerce online retail partners. SAIB took first place at the She Loves Tech South Korea 2021. 

Hyomi Shin – CEO of Gallery360 

Hyomi Shin is the creator of Gallery360, an intelligent VR exhibition solution. Due to the pandemic, it has become difficult to participate in offline events/exhibitions. Gallery360 offers users to view events and exhibitions from the comfort of their homes using any device. Clients can rent the virtual gallery space from Gallery360 for their future events or exhibitions. In just one year, Gallery360 has done over 1,000 exhibitions. Gallery360 placed 2nd at the She Loves Tech South Korea 2021.

Sujeong Lee – CEO of CHERRY 

Sujeong Lee is the creator of CHERRY an end-to-end Blockchain-based Fundraising platform. It is a passion project for Sujeong Lee after having volunteered for fundraising for charities. The goal of CHERRY is to be the top fundraising platform for charities that donors can trust. Therefore, she focused on Blockchain technology to build trust through transparency. Donors can track in real-time every donation made on CHERRY.  In addition, CHERRY provides prepaid cards and Coupons for beneficiaries. CHERRY has done over 900 campaigns by over 200 charities. CHERRY placed 3rd at She Loves Tech South Korea 2021.

Hami Kim – CEO of KOOKY 

Hami used to be a musician and even had an album under her previous name SWELL called TIMELINE 7 years ago. Her music was streamed over 1 million times but only made around $200.  While she had amazing fans, she found it difficult to monetize her music. Therefore she started her startup KOOKY to help artists reach their fans effectively while also making a profit. It is a global platform that connects Kpop Artists with their superfans. On KOOKY artists can host their own live shows from anywhere in the world via their smartphones. In addition, KOOKY offers exclusive Kpop content, fan-vote rankings, and fan communities. Best of all, the platform is in English! 

Eunji Chung – Co-Founder of PARENTREE 

Eunji Chung is the co-founder of PARENTREE which aims to create a new inclusive collective intelligence playground for parents. Think of it as a marketplace for parents to find the right information in regards to parenting. Eunji is the mother of a 31-month-old daughter who wanted to create a platform to empower parents all around the world. PARENTREE curates the content to make to offer parents the right information at the right time with full transparency. Passionate parents who want to share their know-hows can host activities and make additional income. Parents seeking advice and connection can explore activities and pay for the activities they want without having to be bombarded with ads. PARENTREE takes a commission from each transaction. 

Yuli Kim – CEO of Toilette 

Yuli Kim is the CEO of Toilette, a personalized platform addressing women’s hygiene needs. Women are not well informed about how toxic sanitary pads are. The female genital absorbs chemicals 42x more than other body parts. Apart from Korea and some parts of the US, chemicals in sanitary pads are not labeled. Toilette shortens the search times for consumers for the optimal menstrual pad. Users to a quick health checkup questionnaire through the Toilette app, take a picture of the pad they are looking to purchase and Toilette then does a comprehensive product analysis. It also recommends the best product possible for the user based on the data provided. In addition, Toilette offers a customized subscription service that delivers the pads based on your menstrual cycle.  

Jaeyeon Lee – CEO of Lunar Circle 

Jaeyeon started Lunar Circle which aims to turn all beauty products into clean beauty products. It is the world’s first clean beauty manufacturing platform called Micro Beauty Labs. Many beauty products have toxic chemicals which can lead to a higher risk of cancer. However, Lunar Circle uses clean ingredients, and thanks to their mobile app, the production time is decreased from the typical 9 months to only 3 months. Therefore, through Micro Beauty Labs, Lunar Circle offers brands a low-cost solution to getting into the beauty market. Micro Beauty Labs also has its own clean beauty brand called Green Atelier which offers 16 products. 

Sooyeon Han – CEO of UniUni 

Sooyeon Han is the founder of UniUni the creators of an AI-based smart secure toilet system called SAVVY. She created the system due to the increased severity and damages of illegal filming in public restrooms in South Korea. SAVVY alerts authorities when illegal filming occurs or if someone needs assistance due to fainting with its IoT device.