Media & Entertainment Landscape of South Korea
1,240 Media & Entertainment companies in South Korea, in one picture: who is hiring, who is raising money, who founded them, where they are based and what the news is about. Updated August 2026.
Who leads Media & Entertainment in South Korea
Shows the 1,240 tracked companies and highlights the top hiring firms, best‑funded firms, and those currently hiring, with 22 hiring now and 83 having disclosed a funding round.
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Dable2last posted Apr 2026
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NRISE2last posted Nov 2025
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MIRAGESOFT2last posted Apr 2026
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PallyCon1last posted Sep 2025
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Tapas Entertainment1last posted Nov 2025
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MUSICOW1last posted May 2026
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Redion1last posted Aug 2026
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cj 4dplex1last posted Nov 2025
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Tving$312.3MSeries D · Feb 2022
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ZEPETO$154.6MSeries B · Nov 2021
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Kakao Games$130MSeries D · Feb 2018
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RIDI$108.3MSeries C · Jan 2022
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Pixel Vault$105.1MSeries C · Jan 2023
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HYBE IM$100.5MSeries B · Apr 2025
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SNOW$95MSeries A · Jan 2018
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Munpia$92.8MSeries C · Sep 2021
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cj cgv4,501tracked employees
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grand korea leisure1,663tracked employees
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ytn734tracked employees
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the pinkfong company333tracked employees
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Wavve112tracked employees
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iMBC105tracked employees
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Inven9.6%5 tracked events
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beSUCCESS3.8%2 tracked events
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화해3.8%2 tracked events
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Daum Communicationstop 1kdaum.net
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dcinsidetop 1kdcinside.com
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Novelpiatop 5knovelpia.com
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Toptoontop 5ktoptoon.com
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Digital Chosun Cotop 5kchosun.com
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Ridibookstop 5kridibooks.com
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Instiztop 5kinstiz.net
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Weverse≥154articles in the window
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Viki≥12articles in the window
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Cardio≥6articles in the window
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YES24≥5articles in the window
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Watcha≥4articles in the window
See all 1,240 Media & Entertainment companies in South Korea
Filter by funding, headcount, hiring and location, and export the list.
How the Media & Entertainment ecosystem in South Korea grew, 2016–2025
Displays the number of companies founded each year from 2016 to 2025, peaking at 114 in 2020 and falling to 5 in 2025.
Where Media & Entertainment companies in South Korea are based
Lists the cities where companies are located, with Seoul hosting 733 firms followed by Seongnam‑Si, Mapo, Yeoksamdong, and Busan.
The Media & Entertainment market map of South Korea: what these companies actually do
Breaks down the main product categories and revenue models, noting 621 consumer‑digital firms and that advertising and subscription are the most common revenue streams.
The biggest kinds of Media & Entertainment company, by how many we track.
- Consumer Digital621 companies · $1.4B raised · 11 hiring
- Enterprise Tech146 companies · $228.7M raised · 7 hiring
- B2C E-Commerce78 companies · $438.5M raised · 2 hiring
- Internet First News Publishers70 companies · $44.9M raised
- Loneliness Economy57 companies · $288.1M raised
- Enterprise Software49 companies · $100.3M raised · 3 hiring
- Book Reading Apps39 companies · $47.7M raised
- Spatial Computing35 companies · $292.9M raised
- Blockchain35 companies · $7.7M raised · 1 hiring
- Blockchain in Media and Entertainment35 companies · $7.7M raised · 1 hiring
- Marketplaces29 companies · $197.6M raised · 1 hiring
- Real Money Gaming27 companies · $2.4M raised
Monetization
How Media & Entertainment companies make money
How many companies earn revenue each way. Plenty use more than one model, so the counts add up to more than the sector.
Funding, M&A and the deals moving Media & Entertainment in South Korea
Counts 59 corporate events over the past two years, including earnings releases, funding rounds, mergers and acquisitions, and other announcements.
- FundingLY Corporation has become the largest shareholder in Odin: Valhalla Rising developer Kakao Games following a strategic investment of approximately ₩300 billion ($198 million).2026-04-02
- M&ABy absorbing Snow, Flexera eliminated its primary independent competitor in ITAM.2026-01-18
- IPO— Shares of South Korean entertainment firm The Pinkfong Company 403850.KQ, producer of the popular children’s song “Baby Shark,” surged more than 60% in their market debut on Tuesday.2025-11-19
- M&AThe breakfast food company made its second frozen pizza transaction this year with the Alpha Foods purchase.2025-09-17
- FundingBookers, a B2B reading platform, secured USD 746,470 (KRW 1 billion) in Pre-Series A investment from Kiros Venture Partners and Korea Value Investment, aiming for global expansion and edutech leadership.2025-08-24
- FundingInven, a Helsinki, Finland-based provider of an AI-native deal sourcing platform, has raised €11.2 million in Series A funding.2025-05-30
- M&AAbidjan-based KeysFinance Partners has made a significant move in the technology sector by acquiring a 100% stake in Label, a company specializing in the integration of Sage solutions within Côte d’Ivoire.2025-03-27
- Fundingthe biggest being Kakao Entertainment’s nearly $1 billion private equity raise, followed by a $100 million share subscription facility for Events.com.2025-02-08
- M&AOther mergers in the apparel sector in 2024 included New Era taking over the ’47 Brand, Imperial Headwear acquiring Pukka, and Iconix’s purchase of Salt Life from bankruptcy proceedings.2024-12-23
- FundingInblog, a Seoul, South Korea-based SaaS company specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) for businesses, has secured a seed funding round.2024-10-14
Mergers and acquisitions
Deals from the last 24 months where a Media & Entertainment company in South Korea was the buyer or the one bought, newest first. “Undisclosed” means the price was never published — not that the deal was worth nothing.
| Acquirer | Target | Deal value | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LY Corp. | undisclosed | Announced | 2026-03-25 | |
| undisclosed | Completed | 2026-01-18 | ||
| financial investor | undisclosed | Completed | 2025-10-06 | |
| undisclosed | Announced | 2025-09-12 | ||
| $200M | Announced | 2025-08-10 | ||
| undisclosed | Announced | 2025-08-10 |
Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work
Provides details on specific events such as leadership changes and new customer contracts.
Kakao EntertainmentKo · Appointment → Chief Executive OfficerMar 2026
ICONIXwon astrazenecaFeb 2025
- Prosecutors v Kim Beom-su, kakao corp, kakao entertainmentstock manipulation · OngoingAug 2025
- Enlight Ventures v watchacourt-supervised restructuring and debt adjustment · OngoingAug 2025
Half of these companies grew revenue faster than +6.7%, half slower.
Who is building Media & Entertainment in South Korea
Profiles 398 founders and CEOs across 324 firms, noting frequent alma maters like Stanford and Seoul National University and prior employers such as Facebook and Google.
ex-United Nations. Yonsei University 2015
Ex-COO-Playlist, Daisan & company, DAYLI Financial Group · Korea University BA 2008
Ex-Women 2.0, Industrial Bank of Korea, Kyung Hee University BCom 2007, Yonsei University MEd 2013
Nexon. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology 2003, Seoul Science High School 2003
Ex-SK planet, LOTTE Group Strategy and Insight Center, A.T. Kearney. Korea University BSc 2011, KAIST MSc 2018
Intella, ex-Superplex, ex-Neowiz, Korea University, 2007
Ex-YouTube, Google. Seoul National University BBA 2011
Columbia University BS CS 1997
Ex-BookCube Networks, Booktopia. Yonsei University BBA 2006
Look up the people behind Media & Entertainment companies in South Korea
Search founders, executives and operators by company, role and location.
Who funds Media & Entertainment in South Korea
Summarizes 150 funding rounds since 2016 from 228 investors, with an average round size of $5.6 million.
| Investor · most active investors since 2016 | Rounds | Led | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| KB Investment | 8 | 3 | Dec 2022 |
| LB Investment | 7 | 4 | Aug 2025 |
| SparkLabs | 6 | 6 | Jan 2024 |
| Korea Investment Holdings | 6 | 5 | Jun 2023 |
| Altos Ventures Management | 6 | 3 | Feb 2025 |
| IMM Investment | 6 | 3 | Aug 2025 |
| Kakao Ventures | 6 | 2 | Apr 2024 |
| SBVA | 5 | 3 | Nov 2021 |
| Crit Ventures | 5 | 1 | Apr 2026 |
| NAVER D2 Startup Factory | 5 | — | Jan 2023 |
The typical round is $5.6M — half were bigger, half smaller.
The biggest Media & Entertainment funding rounds in South Korea
Highlights the largest disclosed round—Tving’s $277 million Series D—and lists ten other large recent rounds.
| Company | Round | Size | When | Backers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series Dmega-round | $277M | Feb 2022 | JC Gross Investment | |
| Series B | $150M | Nov 2021 | SoftBank Vision Fund, SBVA | |
| Kakao Games | Series D | $130M | Feb 2018 | Tencent, Netmarble Games Corporation, ACTOZ Soft +3 more |
| Series C | $100.3M | Jan 2022 | GIC, Korean Development Bank, Nvestor Funding +1 more | |
| Series C | $100M | Feb 2022 | Velvet Sea Ventures, 01 Advisors | |
| Series C | $92.8M | Sep 2021 | Naver | |
| Series B | $80M | Aug 2024 | Makers Fund, IMM Investment | |
| Series A | $50M | Jan 2018 | Telecoms.com, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank Capital | |
| Series C | $46M | May 2023 | STIC Investments | |
| Series A | $45M | Sep 2016 | LINE Corporation |
22 venture rounds with a disclosed amount in the window.
SeedundisclosedMay 2026
SeedundisclosedApr 2026
Series CundisclosedMar 2026
SeedundisclosedMar 2026
SeedundisclosedFeb 2026
What the news says about Media & Entertainment in South Korea
Counts 161,556 news articles in the last year, most often covering international entities, geopolitical disputes, and political subdivisions.
What the coverage is about
The subjects that dominate Media & Entertainment news in South Korea. The arrow shows whether each one is being written about more or less than a year ago.
- International and transnational geographic entities≥300,203▲+33%
- Geopolitical disputes and contested areas≥300,199▲+33%
- Administrative and political subdivisions≥300,183▲+33%
- International political relations≥23,431→-3%
- Security and defense policies≥18,144▼-12%
- International relations and diplomacy≥15,816▼-18%
- Trade policies and agreements≥12,447▲+74%
- International sports competitions≥12,412▲+30%
- Cryptocurrency impact on forex markets≥8,660▲+104%
- Cybersecurity and cyber warfare≥6,373▼-29%
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15 Media & Entertainment companies here were named in the news over this period.
Watch Media & Entertainment coverage in South Korea as it happens
Prism follows these subjects story by story — which companies are named, what is said about them and how the tone moves.
Momentum
The words getting louder — and quieter
Which terms are showing up in more stories than a year ago, and which are fading. The percentage is the change in how many articles mention them.
The pressures the press keeps returning to
Three recurring angles in South Korea Media & Entertainment coverage, and whether each is getting more attention year on year (through 2025).
Track Media & Entertainment in South Korea beyond this page
Radar finds and filters the companies. Prism watches what is being said about them.
Direct contact details for the people on this page are held in Fliar Radar, behind its own access controls.