SparkLabs Demoday 2024 Spring

Off the Record : VC Insider Talk Panel Session Part 1.

Hyeyun Park

CEO of Marpple Corporation

CEO Hye-yoon Park is the founder of Marpple Corporation, the operator of the creator commerce platform "MarppleShop". Since its official service launch in March 2020, "MarppleShop" operated by Marpple Corporation has welcomed over 70,000 creators, selling more than 1.4 million creator IP products.

MarppleShop offers a Print-on-Demand (POD) fulfillment service, providing all the solutions needed for commerce operations, including product manufacturing, shipping, and customer service. Furthermore, it has expanded into brand commerce by connecting creators and brands and was selected as a partner for the YouTube shopping platform in 2023. Marpple Corporation completed a Series A funding round worth a total of 9 billion won in December 2020 and received Series B investment from Nexon in March 2022.

Junghun Lee

CEO of Nexon

CEO Jung-heon Lee joined Nexon as a new recruit in 2003 and has climbed the ranks from business operations to executive management, proving himself as a business expert by managing various projects and showcasing outstanding business capabilities. He was promoted to CEO of Nexon after 14 years, a testament to Nexon's corporate culture that values talent and promotes leaders from within.

His career includes roles as the team leader of the Publishing QM Team in 2006, the director of Neople's Control Room in 2010, the head of the FIFA Department in 2012, and the head of the Business Division in 2014. He then served as the Vice President of Business Operations before becoming the CEO of Nexon in 2018.

Under Lee's leadership, Nexon has not only achieved significant growth through a strategy of focus and selection but has also undergone major improvements in its structure, leading to the successful launch of new games like 'Dungeon & Fighter Mobile', 'Blue Archive', and 'Dave the Diver'.

Under Lee's direction, Nexon's new and live games have experienced steady growth, contributing to over 50% increase in Nexon's global annual sales in five years. The mobile game sales ratio expanded from 22% to 31% on consolidated basis, showcasing Nexon's prominence in the mobile game market. His other notable achievement is leading Nexon to become the first Korean game company to surpass 3 trillion won in annual sales, fueled by explosive revenue growth in Korea. He also announced a significant upgrade to the company remuneration system, the first in the industry, underlining a commitment to investing in talent and enhancing competitiveness in the global market to grow Nexon into a top-tier company.

CEO Lee plans to continue leveraging his deep understanding and contemplation of Nexon to maximize its unique character and competitiveness in the global market.

SESSION DETAILS

PART 1: SPEAKER AND SESSION INFORMATION

Marpple Corporation is the first and leading POD (Print-On-Demand) custom goods production platform company in Korea. The company operates the goods production platform "Marpple" and the creator commerce platform "MarppleShop". The company facilitates the creation of over 1,500 product types, such as clothing, phone cases, and stickers. They offer customization options even for small quantity orders, setting them apart from other custom production companies.
Marpple Corporation recorded sales of 9.5 billion won in the first half of last year, while MarppleShop platform had over 980,000 monthly active users (MAU). It has become an indispensable solution for content creators who generate revenue from intellectual property (IP) content. The company has been demonstrating agility and sincerity towards industry trends, market demands, and technological advancements.

Marpple Corporation secured a strategic investment from Nexon in April 2023. Following this, they launched "Nexon Essential” (https://essential.nexon.com/kr/), a platform that archives and sells all IP-related products and contents in collaboration with Nexon. In the second panel session of VC Insider Talk, Morale Corporation CEO, Hye-yoon Park, Nexon CEO, Jung-heon Lee, will share insights relating to the investment story of Marpple Corporation and the prospects of the custom goods industry.

* Key Articles
- Marpple Corporation, Adding Details to the Goods Market?
- Marpple Corporation Secures Strategic Investment from Nexon… Series B Closing

Off the Record : VC Insider Talk Panel Session Part 2.

Dongin Lee

CEO of WhaTap Labs Inc.

CEO Dongin Lee, with over 15 years of development experience, founded WhaTap Labs in 2015 and has been serving as its CEO ever since. WhaTap Labs is a leading IT analytics service company in the field of IT monitoring in Korea, being the first in the country to offer a SaaS-based integrated IT monitoring service. Currently, it provides integrated IT monitoring services to a wide range of clients, including major corporations like LG Uplus, KT, Lotte, Hyundai, public institutions, and startups.

Moon-Suk Oh

Partner at Altos Ventures

Partner Moonseok Oh has been a partner at Altos Ventures since 2016. He is based in the Seoul office of Altos Ventures, which acts as the Korean branch of the American Altos Ventures. The investment in Korean startups by the U.S. Altos Ventures began in earnest in 2014, leading to the establishment of Korea's Altos Ventures in 2015, focusing on startup investments and portfolio management.

Before joining Altos Ventures as a partner, Moonseok Oh served as a director at Goldman Sachs Principal Investment for six years and he also has experience working as an analyst at TOPIA SRL and Morgan Stanley. Additionally, he holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University.

SESSION DETAILS

PART 2: SPEAKER AND SESSION INFORMATION

WhaTap Labs is a prominent startup in the B2B Saas (Software as a Service) sector, focusing on cloud-based IT monitoring solutions. WhaTap Labs provides a service that gathers and analyzes performance data from corporate servers, applications, and containers in real-time, providing continuous monitoring and alerts for malfunctions. This enables service managers to promptly assess cloud performance as it happens.

Currently, WhaTap Labs has over 1,000 clients, ranging from major corporations like Lotte Group, SK Telecom, LG Uplus, CJ E&M, to government agencies such as the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the National Information Resources Service, as well as startups. This year, the company expanded its business to the Indonesian market.

WhaTap Labs attracted a total investment of 12 billion won in June 2021 through a Series B investment round led by KB Investment and also participated by Altos Ventures. For the first panel session of VC Insider Talk, WhaTap Labs CEO, Dongin Lee, and the partner of Altos Ventures, Moonseok Oh, will share behind-the-scenes stories about venture investment in WhaTap Labs, and insights into the future of the B2B SaaS sector.

* Key Articles
- Why We Had to Invest Again in WhaTap Labs
- WhaTap Labs Raises 12 Billion Won in Series B Funding... Participation by KB Investment, Altos Ventures, and 6 other companies