It was found that 240 companies that had undergone various mentoring, such as investment, law, and technology for 6 months to 1 year from senior entrepreneurs, achieved a total of 97 investment attraction results and increased employment of more than 500 people.
Promising startups equipped with various services and technologies, such as autonomous driving logistics robots and simulators, deep learning-based smart ordering systems and robots, intelligent real estate valuation and analysis solutions, and LED smart backpacks, gathered together to introduce promising technologies for sustainable growth. .
The K-ICT Mentoring Center held the '2019 Startup Hope Concert' at the Korea Science and Technology Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 12th and held a graduation ceremony for the 12th and 13th mentees.
The K-ICT Mentoring Center provides continuous help and mentoring through education and encounters necessary for early start-up and growth-stage entrepreneurs who are running startups by senior mentors who have experienced start-ups in the information and communication technology (ICT) field for 10 to 20 years. do.
The event held on this day was also prepared to inform the achievements of 240 dedicated mentees for the 12th and 13th periods with 3 professional mentors and 30 CEO mentors. Until last November, 240 companies that had received mentoring succeeded in attracting a total of 97 cases and investment of 22.52 billion won. A total of 141 patent applications and registrations were made and 573 new jobs were also created.
The K-ICT Mentoring Center mentored a total of 850 companies for 5 years, including the 12th to 13th groups, and the amount of investment from these companies amounted to about 130 billion won. The total job creation reached 2,052.
An award was also given for the excellent mentee company. The 13th mentee company, Cheon Hong-seok, CEO of Twiny, Kim Dae-hoon, the 12th mentee company, Roborus CEO, and Lim Hyun-seo, the CEO of Tanker Fund were awarded the Minister of Science and ICT Award. Kim Seon-ho, CEO of Millennium Car, and Jo Joo-hee, CEO of Ecobios, received the Young Entrepreneur Award.
The facets of mentee companies are also diverse. Twiny, which won the 13th mentee company award, is a self-driving logistics robot startup established in 2015. A logistics robot that recognizes workers and avoids objects by itself and follows the workers by autonomous driving is made.
Morai is an early-stage company established last year. It is a company that produces simulators related to free driving. The simulator made by this company can be applied to moving objects such as autonomous vehicles and drones. Its growth potential is also recognized, such as being selected for the TIPS program.
Founded in 2016, Tibaba makes LED smart backpacks. As a smart bag, there is an LED plate on the front of the backpack, so you can control the LED of the bag through a dedicated application.
A demonstration day of the 13th mentee company was held prior to the graduation ceremony. It is an event to support exchanges with accelerators and opportunities to attract additional investment through corporate briefing sessions (IR) for dedicated mentee companies with excellent technology and performance. Eight mentee companies, including Twiny, selected as the 13th mentee company, Kevin Orchard, K Albatross, DOUB, Fortium, SID Hub, Youngil Engineering, and Nvac, showed off their technological prowess. Tweeny also won the grand prize on Demo Day.
Kevin Orchard is a startup that makes dishwashing detergent and loofah. It is a product that puts a solid detergent in the scrubber for easy and convenient dishwashing. It has effects such as removing more than 12 unnecessary chemical components and inhibiting bacterial growth using 3 natural ingredients.
In addition, K-Albatross is a 3D non-destructive robot automated inspection equipment, DOUB is a real-time text analysis technology development and platform service, Fortium is a sports medicine patent-based smart clothing and healthcare solution, and SID Hub is a window frame-mounted ventilation purifier, Youngil. Engineering is a company that manufactures steering system assembly and inspection equipment (EPS) for automobiles, and Nvac is a company that makes flow measurement solutions.
Investors such as accelerators and experts in the legal field also participated to support mentee companies. A total of 10 accelerators, strategic investors (SI) such as Halla Group, two law firms, and specialized technical institutions such as Cloud Research Center, ASD Korea, and Livan provide consultations related to investment, law, and specialized technology at the ICT innovative technology startup conference. Introduced to a mentee company.
A talk concert was also held in which incumbent investors such as CNT Tech CEO Jeon Seong-seong, Neo-Fly CEO Kwon Yong-gil, Samho Green Investment Managing Director Min Kyung-cheol, Ntels Director Lee Moon-gyu, and Y Alliance Investment Vice President Choi Jong-min personally came forward to deliver successful investment cases to mentee companies.
Jang Seok-young, head of the Information and Communication Policy Department of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “These programs should continue to be strengthened in the future so that seniors with experience of the first venture boom can share their knowledge so that startups can grow and expand into the world.” If I wrote the letter, I will do my best to help startups that have gone through mentoring like now, overcome Death Valley and scale-up, and become an important force in our economy.”
Hwang Chul-joo, chairman of the Korea Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation, said, “The most effective way to increase the value of innovation is to start a business.” He urged “mentee companies to succeed and make Korea happy.”