Brief overview of some of SparkLabs Group's highlights from 2019. SparkLabs Group is made up of 9 startup accelerators and 3 venture capital funds. Since 2013, we have invested in over 260 companies across 6 continents.
2. We are widely considered the leading accelerator network in Asia with
operations in South Korea (1st launched in Dec 2012), Beijing, Shenzhen,
Taipei, and Sydney; new accelerators in Muscat, Oman, Washington D.C.,
and with Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ; SparkLabs Global
Ventures, a global seed-stage fund; SparkLabs Ventures, our early-stage
fund for South Korea and SE Asia; and SparkLabs Capital, a late stage
investment vehicle.
Our team previously has led investments in Siri (sold to Apple),
DeepMind (sold to Google for over $500M), Ping An Good Doctor
($7.45 billion IPO), Spotify (board member), Studio Ex (co-founded,
sold to Disney), Hostway (co-founded, sold to a PE fund) and others.
SparkLabs Group is a
network of startup
accelerators and
venture capital funds,
which was founded
in 2013.
SPARKLABS GROUP
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3. SparkLabs is a young
venture capital firm that
not only has a strong
growing brand, but
numbers to back up our
reputation.
Plus we are known as
nice, trustworthy people.
SINCE 2013 or 7 years
Over…
260 startups invested
$4.5 billion in total
post money valuation
45% IRR across our
top 2 accelerators
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4. I. Our Partners in the Frontlines of Entrepreneurship
II. Woori Bank and SparkLabs Korea Partnership
III. Shinhan Bank and SparkLabs Korea Launch Side
Fund
IV. Melanie Healey & Lars Peter Hansen Joins as
Advisors
V. SparkLabs in Newsweek’s Top 100 Smart City
Partners
VI. Notable Investments
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CONTENTS
5. We are at the Frontlines
Co-founder of SparkLabs Group
Co-founder at Equilibrium
(carbon neutral platform for corporates)
Raising $3M seed in 2Q 2020
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Co-founder of SparkLabs Group
Co-founder & CEO at Bespin Global
Raised $77M Series B
Closing $40M Series C in early 2020
HANJOO LEE FRANK MEEHAN
All founding
partners are
former
entrepreneurs and
two of our
partners are at the
frontlines again!
6. SparkLabs’ (SparkLabs Korea Fund III) accelerator fund became the first
venture capital fund presented on a wealth management platform in
South Korea.
Woori Bank, one of South Korea’s largest commercial banks (top 5), is
providing its private banking clients the option to allocate and invest their
wealth into a venture capital fund for the first time in the Korean financial
industry. More details and public news will be coming in the next couple
months.
Woori Bank & SparkLabs8
Woori Bank and SparkLabs Korea partner to
provide private banking clients the VC option
7. Shinhan Bank and SparkLabs Korea created a US$10M side fund to follow
on with SparkLabs Korea Fund III investments and other SparkLabs
accelerator follow-on opportunities. Shinhan Bank is investing $5M into
this new fund as a Co-GP. New LPs into the SparkLabs’ ecosystem are
providing the rest.
Shinhan Bank (NYSE: SHG), second largest commercial bank in South
Korea in terms of total assets (over $453 billion) with a market cap of
over $18 billion.
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Shinhan Bank and SparkLabs Korea create a side fund
for SparkLabs Korea Fund III
Shinhan Bank & SparkLabs
8. Melanie Healey Joins SparkLabs Group Advisory Board
We are honored to have Melanie Healey join our SparkLabs Group Advisory Board.
Melanie's 25-year tenure at P&G included Group President, North America which
was the company's largest and most profitable region ($30+ billion in revenue).
She currently sits on the board of directors of several Fortune 500 companies, such as
Verizon (#19), Target (#39), PPG (#205) and Hilton (#345).
SparkLabs Group Advisors10
Michael Crow Honored in
Fortune s The World s 50 Greatest Leaders 2019
One of our first advisors since 2013, Michael Crow, President of Arizona State
University (ASU), has been a strong supporter of SparkLabs Group’s vision and growth.
We are proud to be associated with him as Fortune recently recognized him as one of
the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.
Lars Peter Hansen Joins SparkLabs Group Advisory Board
Lars Peter Hansen is a Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and a
leading expert in economic dynamics who works at the forefront of economic
thinking and modeling, drawing approaches from macroeconomics, finance, and
statistics. He is a recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
9. SparkLabs Group was
the only venture
capital firm (or any
investment company) in
the world to be
recognized in
Newsweek’s 2019 Top
100 Smart City
Partners Awards
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SPARKLABS GROUP
10. Notable Investments14
$50M Series C led by
Goldman Sachs (Nov 2019)
Other investors include Accel,
Aspect, Sallie Mae
Fast Company's 2019 Most
Innovative Companies
SparkLabs Global (seed fund)
portfolio company
$100M Series D led by
Generation Capital (Al Gore)
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative s first
investment (led Series B)
Other investors include Spark
Capital, GV (Google Ventures)
SparkLabs Global company
$26.5B IPO in March 2019
Other investors include GM, Icahn,
Rakuten, CapitalG, Fidelity
SparkLabs Global Capital (late-stage
investments with LPs) portfolio
company
$25.2M Series B with STIC, Aju,
Intervest and others ($150M
post-money)
JV between SparkLabs Korea and Aju
Hotel & Resorts
12 locations in Seoul and a
PROFITABLE co-working company
SparkLabs Korea Fund II portfolio
company
$16.4M total for Series B from
Samsung Ventures & Samsung
SDS
Leading enterprise blockchain
company in South Korea
84.3x multiple since SparkLabs
Korea s investment
SparkLabs Korea Fund I (Batch 6) &
SparkLabs Ventures (Series A fund)
$70M Series D led by CUNA
Mutual ($495M post-money)
Servicing $1.15 Billion+ in aggregate
loan originations
Other investors include David
Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Gary Cohn
(former Chief Economic Advisor to the
President)
SparkLabs Global portfolio company
11. 15
$35M Series D led by
Johnson & Johnson
$126M Series C
Other investors include
Goodwater, Formation Group, Y
Combinator, Cowboy Ventures,
Altos
SparkLabs Korea Fund I (Batch 1)
& Global portfolio company
$15M Series B led by Jim
Breyer and Thomas Tull
Official avatar agency for every
player in NBA, MLB, and NFL
Other investors include NEA,
Foundation, Box Group
SparkLabs Global portfolio
company
$70M Series D led by Northstar Group
Leading B2C ecommerce player in Vietnam
Other investors include JD.com,
CyberAgents, Sumitomo, VNG Corporation
SparkLabs Ventures (Series A fund for Korea
& SE Asia) portfolio company
$15M total for Series B from
Balderton and Nokia Growth
Leading wellness app in Europe
Other investors include Bauer Media Group,
Draper Esprit
SparkLabs Global portfolio company
$20M Series C led by GDP
8 Most Influential Internet Rap
Collectives of the 2010s
Other investors include WPP, Blue
Poole, Jimmy Iovine, ByteDance,
Bono
SparkLabs Global portfolio
company
() ) (
Notable Investments
12. Sweden
USA
United Kingdom
Australia Peru Saudi Arabia
takko
We have invested in over 260
companies through all of our
entities and across 6 continents
since 2013. Here is a selection
of our investments.
Brazil
Nigeria India
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