Tech news picked on 2026-03-13
A Bridge Has Been Built into the Defense Market That Startups Couldn't Crack Alone
- Bluepoint Partners launched 'Raptors' to help startups enter the defense industry.
- For deep tech teams that had difficulty accessing military demand, it can serve as a channel to verify where their technology can be applied.
- However, being introduced and actual delivery are separate matters, so the key challenge is whether they can sustain private customers while enduring the time needed for certification and procurement.
Deep Tech J-Curve: Asicland's R&D Bet
- Asicland recorded sales of 72.8 billion won in 2025 but posted an operating loss.
- Even if this is a result of investments in advanced processes and AI technology, it is difficult to determine how long one should wait based on the explanation that the deficit was planned.
- Deep tech founders need to explain to investors and their teams when the developed technology will lead to mass production sales and whether they have enough funds to withstand schedule delays.
AI Clone 'Clora' Proves Scalability of Creator Economy
- The AI clone messenger Clora, which learned the knowledge and philosophy of experts, surpassed 2,500 DAU within a month of its launch.
- It is interesting that the usage method continues conversations even during times when experts cannot respond personally.
- If preparing a similar service, I would like to distinguish between users who tried it out of curiosity initially and users who return whenever they need a consultation.
- The difference cannot be known from initial user numbers alone.
The Fusion of PR and Investment, A New Formula for Scale-up
- Tech PR company Teamcookie and accelerator Maum Investment have signed a business agreement to support startup growth.
- The idea of preparing investment presentations and external publicity together is welcome.
- For early-stage teams, it seems important to first check if the promises made to investors and customers match before increasing media exposure.
- The more you loudly promote unverified achievements in your product, the greater the burden of explanation later becomes.
Why a Founder with a $600 Million Exit Chose Quantum Computing
- After selling his AI startup to AMD for $665 million, Peter Salin founded the quantum computing infrastructure company QuTwo.
- The timing of entering before the hardware matures to help companies prepare for adoption is intriguing.
- Founders trying to turn new technologies into business first ask whether customers have current problems worth paying to test.
- The key is whether the tool can be sold even if commercialization is delayed.
The Counterattack of Vertical AI Armed with Data Moats
- Rainer launched research and business-specialized AI based on 460 million academic data entries and 10 years of accumulated highlight records.
- Records left on which sentences people selected are hard to quickly catch up with just by adding a new model.
- From a startup perspective, they want to see how easily customers can complete searches and document work thanks to these records, rather than focusing on the data scale.
Survival Weapons in the AI Era: Diversity and Proactive Learning Ability
- At the Startup Alliance conference, board diversity and members' proactive learning attitudes were discussed.
- It was interpreted as meaning that if you only hire people good at using AI tools, you may end up with a team that just arrives at similar answers faster.
- From a hiring perspective, along with tool proficiency, I want to ask what they learn and whose opinions they seek when facing unfamiliar customer problems.
- Even if there are people with different perspectives, it's useless without a space to speak up.
Rox AI 1.2 trillion Valuation: The Rise of AI Native CRM
- Rox AI, founded by the former Chief Growth Officer of New Relic, has been valued at $1.2 billion.
- The company clearly aims to reduce the effort of inputting data into CRM systems and automate sales task execution.
- Teams preparing similar products should first consider whether their offering changes workflows enough for customers to replace their existing CRMs.
- It will be easier to persuade customers to switch if sales representatives can spend more time meeting clients instead of entering data.
27 Years of Data Accumulation Become a Core Competence in the AI Era
- Korea Spatial Information & Communication has accumulated data over 27 years while participating in the construction of the national spatial information infrastructure.
- It makes you think whether to view public projects solely as revenue or as an opportunity to leave records for future products.
- Rather than greedily trying to collect all logs in the early startup phase, I want to focus first on designing how to select and refine the data to revisit when fixing a product.
The End of SEO and the Rise of GEO: Survival Strategies for Founders
- Shopify presented rich content, brand trust, and data quality as key factors for responding to AI-driven search.
- Product descriptions and site structure can be quickly fixed, but increasing external reviews or mentions from trustworthy media cannot be done at will.
- Early teams concerned about customer acquisition should read how actual customers describe their products before increasing their article output.
- If there is a discrepancy between official descriptions and user reviews, understanding the reason should be the first step.
The End of SEO and the Arrival of the AIEO Era: A Startup Founder's Survival Guide
- Jungdae Lee, CEO of Message House, addressed in his new book how to create content that AI prefers to cite.
- As more people get answers without clicking links in search results, startups need to reconsider where and how to present their content.
- However, simply tweaking Q&A formats or tags tends to increase content similar to others.
- It's better to start by revealing real customer problems experienced firsthand and using own company data.