From Defense Tech to K-Content: The Startups VCs Backed in Mid-November

Money Today’s startup platform Unicorn Factory rounded up 12 Korean startups that announced funding during the third week of November, from the 17th to the 21st. Among them, Kyndof, a K-pop fashion brand house startup, raised a 2.6 billion won seed round.

The round was led by Bluepoint Partners, with Murex Partners, Base Ventures and the Incheon Center for Creative Economy and Innovation-The Invention Lab joining.

Kyndof runs 2000Atelier, which makes stage costumes for K-pop artists, and 2000Archives, a B2C fashion brand built on that work. It has produced stage outfits for major Korean groups including Blackpink, aespa, Le Sserafim and IVE, as well as for artists in the United States, Europe and Japan. With a structure that exposes its brands through stage costumes, the company turned a profit in 2023, its first year in business, and overseas sales now account for more than 30% of revenue.

Ryu Go-eun, the senior investment manager at Bluepoint Partners who led the round, said, “Kyndof is building a singular model that converts K-pop, a global cultural asset, into revenue,” adding that the company “will drive structural innovation in the fashion industry by combining a data-based operating system with AI.”

Kyndof plans to use the proceeds to upgrade its design and manufacturing infrastructure under a “fast haute couture” concept. Chief executive Kim Seon-bin said, “This is the moment to extend the competitiveness Korea has secured in content industries into brands,” adding that the company “will complete a brand house model that supports a range of K-lifestyle brands with vertically integrated infrastructure.”