Korea start-up equity management platform raises $11m

US-based venture capital firm Elefund was the lead investor, with additional contributions from existing backers like Draper Associates. Access Ventures, Hana Securities, and Toss, a Korean money transfer app operated by Viva Republica, came in as new investors.

QuotaBook has now raised USD 20m since its inception in 2019 by three venture capitalists – Andy Choi, Dan Hong, and Pilseon Jun – who saw an opportunity to digitise equity management. Many start-ups in Asia still use Excel to keep track of cap tables and the issuance of stock options.

According to AVCJ Research, the company received KRW 1bn (USD 850,000) in seed funding from 500 Global, AF Investment, BonAngels Venture Partners, Fast Ventures, and Mashup Angels. This was followed by an investment of undisclosed size by Korea Investment Partners, Seoul Technology Holdings, Strong Ventures, Futureplay, Shinhan Capital, Lotte Accelerator, and Kimkisa Labs.

QuotaBook graduated from Y Combinator's winter 2021 batch and received funding from Elefund, Draper Associates, Goodwater Capital, and Carta Ventures the same year.

The company claims to have introduced the concept of software-as-a-service equity management to Korea. The idea is to simplify ownership management by automating the tracking and organisation of equity, convertibles, simple agreements for future equity (SAFEs), employee stock options (ESOs), and other data used to monitor growth and performance.

It means start-ups save time and labour while motivating employees more effectively through stock option features that are aligned with the growth of the company. At the same time, investors can track the performance of their portfolios with data automatically synced into the platform.

QuotaBook works with more than 3,000 start-ups at the pre-seed to pre-IPO stages across 11 countries – including Singapore, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – supporting the administration of more than USD 40bn in private equity commitments. It serves the likes of Toss and Danggeun Market in Korea, as well as Gushcloud, NextPay, and Ayoconnect in Southeast Asia.

The company is looking to expand internationally, with Southeast Asia and the Middle East identified as priority markets. It recently established partnerships with four other Y Combinator alumni – Southeast Asia-based Circular, Deel, Deskimo, and Spenmo – to help local start-ups improve operations.

Choi, who serves as CEO, noted in a statement that the start-up ecosystem in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa is growing faster than ever, with Singapore receiving nearly four times more funding than the global average between 2017 to 2021. "Despite the remarkable growth, start-ups in the region still manage their equity on spreadsheets," he said.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Early-stage
• Technology
• Support services
• South Korea
• SaaS
• enterprise software
• Elefund
• Access Ventures
• Draper Associates