Wello, an AI-based GovTech startup, secures Series A funding, providing customized policy services for citizens and businesses and pushing for global expansion.
Through its individual-focused 'Wello' and business-focused 'WelloBiz' services, it enhances accessibility to policy information and offers public grants and bidding information, contributing to improved quality of life for citizens.
Leveraging Korea's experience in leading digital government and GovTech, it aims to establish a Korean-style B2G2C model and expand into the global market to provide policy benefits to more people.
South Korea's first B2G2C service combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the GovTech industry
Series A investment participation from major domestic financial investment institutions and public agencies
Securing investment to expand globally based on the South Korean model
Wello (CEO, Yuriana Kim), an AI-based Gov-Tech startup, announced on the 13th that it has secured Series A investment.
Korea Investment Partners and the Credit Guarantee Fund, which participated in the previous Pre-Series A round, also made follow-up investments in this Series A round. Wi Ventures, Shinhan Venture Investment, and Fast Ventures joined as new institutional investors. The total amount of investment raised is undisclosed.
Wello is a natural language processing AI-based GovTech startup established in June 2021. It provides ‘Wello’ (Wello), a policy-tailored service for individuals, and ‘WelloBiz,’ a public project SaaS service for businesses.
Wello is a portmanteau of ‘Welfare’ and ‘Hello,’ designed to help everyone in the country easily find policies that suit them. In the three years since its launch, about 2.2 million users have found tailored policies through Wello, and the scale of policy benefits connected to individuals through Wello has reached 8.9 trillion won, showing rapid growth.
WelloBiz is a SaaS service that allows businesses to manage government subsidies and bid projects in the public sector they can apply for. It covers everything from support programs for early-stage companies to public bidding projects for mature companies. In the two years since its launch, over 5,000 businesses have used WelloBiz to manage government support projects and bidding projects based on data. The scale of public projects currently managed by corporate clients on WelloBiz has exceeded 4 trillion won.
Kim So-hee, Managing Director of Wi Ventures, a new participant in this Series A investment, said, “Wello has grown through a genuine business model and swift execution, and we highly evaluate the growth potential of the services to be launched in the future, leading us to make the lead investment. We agree with Wello's vision and will act as a supportive force alongside them.”
The core of Wello is its ‘scalable in-house data platform.’ The South Korean government's expenditure budget for 2024 is 656 trillion won, nearly doubling from 355 trillion won a decade ago. In 2025, it will increase by another 21 trillion won to 677 trillion won. From its early stages, Wello has developed its own technology to meticulously handle scattered policies from organizations nationwide, and it is refining its services by building a product roadmap that encompasses both individuals and businesses.
Jung Hwa-mok, Director, and Ahn Ji-hyun, Team Leader (former Ministry of Science and ICT official), of Korea Investment Partners, who decided on a follow-up investment, said, “Wello is a team with exceptional tenacity in problem-solving based on a deep understanding of users and outstanding servant leadership. As a leading company in a nascent market, we have high expectations for its future global expansion.”
With this investment, Wello will undertake R&D to become a service accessible to all citizens and, in collaboration with government and public institutions, will embark on global market expansion using the ‘South Korean B2G2C model.’ Wello explains that 20 years ago, the South Korean government enacted the e-Government Act, laying a solid administrative and technological foundation for seizing leadership in the global GovTech market. Indeed, South Korea has consecutively ranked first in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s International Digital Government Index for two years in a row (2024) and topped the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) among 198 countries.
Lee Jin-soo, Managing Director of Shinhan Venture Investment, said, “South Korea, ranked first in the OECD Digital Government Evaluation, is leading the global trend of establishing a platform government. We will work with Shinhan Financial Group to help Wello leverage AI and data to proactively refine personalized policy services for individuals and businesses, contributing to improving the quality of life for the South Korean people.”
Kim Yuriana, CEO of Wello, stated, “The GovTech industry, which has grown deep and wide in the global market, is now emerging in South Korea. It’s meaningful that our efforts to build a South Korea-specific service resonate with them. Through this investment, we aim to help every individual and business in South Korea experience public policies effectively from start to finish and expand globally based on the South Korean model.”
Wello Introduction
Founded in June 2021, Wello is a leading GovTech company that revolutionizes the policy industry using data to enable every individual and business in South Korea to access policies tailored to their specific needs. It provides technology and data-driven policy solutions for individuals and businesses, allowing them to focus on their lives by handling their concerns.
