Top Female Founder in South Korea – Sophie Kim CEO of Market Kurly

Research shows that female startup founders face negative attitudes during pitches. Investors tend to ask women more about risk and losses. However, men are asked about ambitions and achievements. While this has been a problem in South Korea in the past, Entrepreneurs like Sophie Kim are paving the way for more women in Korea to start their own businesses. BusinessFinancing.co.uk analyzed data from the business information resource Crunchbase and named Sophie Kim the top female founder in South Korea. Below is a complete breakdown of the top female founder in every country.

More Female Entrepreneurs in Korea than Ever Before

Men and women in South Korea graduate at the same rate however, once women enter traditional Korean companies, data shows that they do not advance in the company compared to men. Many women in South Korea are disappointed with the Korean working culture. Therefore, there has been a movement of female office workers looking to start their own businesses. Now, over 25% of all new startups in South Korea are started by women. This kind of trend is also starting to happen in established corporate companies in Korea like Samsung and LG. Data has shown that female founders deliver higher profits, run socially responsible businesses, and are driven by ideas rather than money. Being driven by ideas and innovation is key to long-term success. This does not allow just startups but established companies as well.

Top Female Founder in South Korea

Sophie Kim is the founder of Market Kurly, a fast-growing grocery delivery startup in Korea. The eCommerce industry in South Korea is flourishing as consumers are avoiding stores like Emart, HomePlus, and LotteMart and looking towards online grocery stores. Under Sophie’s leadership, Market Kurly’s sales have grown 4x since 2015. The startup has focused on strengthening its logistics capability and installing advanced logistics systems to expand its customer base. Market Kurly can now deliver groceries to customers by 7 a.m. if customers place their orders before 11 p.m. the previous day.

Winner of the Pony Chung Leadership Award

The Pony Chung Leadership Award was given to Sophie Kim. The award recognizes and highlights young leaders under the age of 40. A 50 million KRW prize was awarded to Sophie along with the award.

An Environmentally Focused Startup

Sophie Kim is always looking to innovate her company in other ways as well. The startup found that paper is the most eco-friendly packaging material and the best for the freshness of food. Quality of food is very important for a business like Market Kurly which relies on the freshness of the products they deliver. Therefore they tested various packaging materials and came to the conclusion that paper worked best. This one decision will reduce their use of vinyl by 750 tons a year and their use of polystyrene by 2,130 tons a year.

Market Kurly started the All-Paper Challenge. The program involves planting trees at elementary schools. If consumers place the paper packing from Market Kurly deliveries in front of their homes/businesses, the company will collect the material and sell it to a paper recycling firm. The profits made from the sale are used to plant trees at elementary schools all across South Korea.

The Power of Infographics

BusinessFinancing.co.uk and NeoMam Studios have done a great job of showcasing entrepreneurs through these fantastic infographics. Seoulz has spoken about how infographics are a great way to improve your Google SEO via getting backlinks. These kinds of infographics are a great way to spread information about your business in Korea to the world. Incorporating infographics into your web content has proven to show higher engagement. There is so much data related to the Korean market. However, it is unknown to the world due to poor marketing. Korean startups and companies need to take advantage of the global interest in graphic content by incorporating them into their brand’s marketing/advertising.

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About NeoMam Studios

NeoMam Studios is a creative studio based in the UK. Their mission is to create digital content that the online audience will want to share.