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Seoul National University and Gwanak-gu Office are hosting the 'Startup Competition for Recruiting Resident Companies for Seoul National University Campus Town in 2024.' This recruitment is targeting young startup companies (established after October 25, 2016) with founders aged 39 or younger, including prospective entrepreneurs or those within 7 years of starting their business. Since the initiation of the resident company selection competition in June 2020, Seoul National University Campus Town Business Team has been selecting startups with the potential to enter the global market. To date, they have discovered 87 startups, which have collectively generated sales of approximately 30 billion won, raised 111 billion won in investments, and secured 28.1 billion won in support project selections, yielding remarkable results. The current recruitment targets approximately 50 (prospective) startup teams or young startup companies within 7 years of establishment with the potential for future growth as global unicorn companies. The application period runs until November 14th, with preference given to startups with innovative technology-related items in fields such as Robotics AI, Bio-Health, Energy/Semiconductors, Security/Quantum Technology, and more. Selected resident companies will be housed in the 'Startup HERE-RO' Centers, Units 2-5, located in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, and will receive various benefits, including free provision of startup space, technology collaboration with professors and researchers at Seoul National University, tailored mentoring/consulting and networking support, assistance in raising investments through Demo Days and continuous investor connections, as well as promotional support through the Business Team's promotional channels. Kim Tae-wan, the director of Seoul National University Campus Town Business Team, stated, "This recruitment is being conducted to discover outstanding early-stage companies," and he expressed his hope for the keen interest and support of startups capable of solving regional community issues, as well as global innovative technology-related startups.

The Seoul National University Campus Town Business Team, led by Director Kim Tae-wan, successfully hosted the '2023 Southwest Campus Town-Startup Institution Joint Networking (SNL Day)' at the Seoul Partners House Convention Hall in Yongsan-gu on October 20th. The event, which involved Seoul's southwest university campus towns and startup institutions, saw participation from approximately 60 individuals, including employees and stakeholders of startups affiliated with the campus towns and startup institutions, as well as judges and professional investors. Eight companies participated in the event, including TripBuilder (a smart healthcare DX for tourism big data infrastructure and personalized AI solutions), NewGym (a personalized healthcare commerce platform based on nutritional physiological pharmacological knowledge), Alopexalgo (AI service in the bio-medical field utilizing a giant language model), Elbio (development of siRNA nano-anticancer agents using polymer vectors with low toxicity and high gene delivery efficiency), Smadian (an AI-integrated early childhood monitoring system and parenting diary app to assist in children's safety and health), Pinwheel (a platform for matching jobs for people with disabilities), and Leaders of Green Society (an ESG crowdsourcing platform based on eco-friendly certification rewarding services). The event consisted of an opening ceremony, an IR pitching competition, and 1:1 free networking sessions with participating companies, followed by a closing session. Elbio (Seoul National University Campus Town) secured the first place in the IR pitching competition, with TripBuilder (Sungkyunkwan University Campus Town) taking the second place. The 1:1 free networking sessions provided attendees with an opportunity to engage in free discussions and share concerns among themselves, receiving positive responses from the participants. A representative from the business team stated, "The event was significant in providing opportunities for information sharing and collaboration among the startups located in the southwest region of Seoul. We will continue our efforts to promote the expansion of entrepreneurship in the region by facilitating regular communication and collaboration between neighboring universities and startup institutions." The Seoul National University Campus Town Business Team has been consistently producing global deep tech startups since 2020 through the Seoul Campus Town Comprehensive 3rd Phase Business, which was launched in collaboration with Seoul National University and Gwanak-gu. Under the vision of "Innovation of the Regional Economy through Global Deep Tech Startup Base," they plan to continue their project in the 6th phase of the entrepreneurial project in 2024, aiming to establish a one-stop support platform for global deep tech startups, create a complete startup ecosystem, and implement an innovative system for the regional economy based on entrepreneurship.

  Nanum Vitamin, a social venture for meal support, along with the Gwanak District Office, Bongcheon Jeil Comprehensive Market, and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation Gwanak Branch, conducted a support program for the traditional market grocery shopping event during the Chuseok holiday. The target of this two-day event, held from September 26th to 27th, was households in Gwanak District with children's meal cards. Coordinating with the Gwanak District Office's project budget, approximately 120 children received grocery shopping coupons worth 12,000 won per person through the 'Nabi Yam' application or at the site. The coupons were used at Bongcheon Jeil Comprehensive Market, and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation Gwanak Branch supported the project costs by providing eco-friendly bags. This support program for the pre-Chuseok grocery shopping event is the first collaborative project conducted by Nanum Vitamin and the Bongcheon Jeil Comprehensive Market Merchants Association, which signed an MOU in August. Amid the difficulty of meeting traditional markets these days, the event received an enthusiastic response and concluded successfully in just two days, allowing the children to experience vitality and warmth in the market, choose items themselves, and receive practical lessons in economic education through the coupon system Representative Park Jeong-seok of the Bongcheon Jeil Comprehensive Market Merchants Association stated, "The market merchants actively participated for the children. I am pleased that the children enjoyed various and healthy market foods and had a warm holiday experience at the market, which preserves our culture and tradition." Director Park Eun-ji of Nanum Vitamin mentioned, "The pre-Chuseok grocery shopping program was the first collaboration project with the Gwanak District Office after officially signing a business agreement with the Bongcheon Jeil Comprehensive Market. It was a meaningful opportunity to directly witness the smiles of the children. We will continue to collaborate with local governments and organizations to strive for warm and hearty meals for children."

The 'PICK-PLAY-LOVE' project took place at the Jeju ICC Convention Center for 6-8 days, featuring promotional activities and a plogging event with pets. The pet healthcare startup, PeterPetter, participated in the 2023 Jeju Pet Fair with the 'PICK-PLAY-LOVE' project. The Jeju Pet Fair, the first pet industry expo held in Jeju, the number one pet-friendly travel destination in South Korea with a population of 15 million pets, opened from October 6th to 8th. This year's exhibition attracted over 16,000 visitors in three days and concluded successfully with various programs such as educational seminars with speakers like Seol Chae-hyun and Kim Myung-cheol, as well as pet-friendly plogging activities. The 'PICK-PLAY-LOVE' team garnered a lot of attention by promoting the project, operating a pet photo zone, and hosting on-site events for pet owners. The 'PICK-PLAY-LOVE' project, meaning to pick up trash, play together, and love animals and Jeju, is a collaborative project between PeterPetter, a local pet tech healthcare startup, Poringk, a pet-friendly lifestyle local brand, and PLAY PLA, a Jeju eco-friendly lifestyle brand. The project aims to commercialize a pet-friendly plogging event where pets, their owners, and Jeju can all become healthier together. The proceeds from the crowdfunding will be fully donated to Friendly Hands, an organization that supports the care of stray animals. The pet-friendly plogging event took place near Jeju Olle 8-gil, overlooking the main mountains, on October 7th (Saturday) during the Jeju Pet Fair. Participants of various ages, accompanied by their pets, conducted environmental cleanup activities. The event received a warm response from Jeju Pet Fair visitors, in addition to participants who wanted to join on-site. This crowdfunding included round-trip airfare, pet-friendly hotel accommodations, PeterPetter's pet genetic testing kit, Longolab's pet travel kit, GreenGrim's plogging kit, and Jeju Pet Fair admission tickets. Hanwha Resort, Gyowon Group, and T'way Air participated as collaborators, while the Jeju Tourism Organization and the Korea Tourism Organization, along with the Jeju Creative Economy Innovation Center, participated as sponsors. These companies have been promoting pet travel and preventing the occurrence of stray animals since 2021. In 2022, with the support of the Korea Tourism Organization and Jeju Techno Park, they successfully completed the "Jeju Go-back" project, which created healthcare travel kits for pets accompanying travel to Jeju and fully donated the proceeds to animal protection organizations through crowdfunding. Through the 'PICK-PLAY-LOVE' project, efforts are being made to attract pet-friendly tourists to Jeju by providing content such as pet-friendly plogging in the pristine natural environment of Jeju and actively developing tourism products that utilize Jeju's resources. Thanks to the support, an additional pet-friendly plogging event will be held in November, and efforts will continue to provide tourism infrastructure for pet-friendly tourists visiting Jeju more conveniently.

APGREEN  received the Excellence Award at the 'SNU Haedong Startup 4th Demo Day' hosted by the Seoul National University Engineering-Haedong Science and Culture Foundation on the 26th of last month. APGREEN was co-founded in January 2022 by CEO Park Tae-yoon, who has practical experience and start-up knowledge in the hydrogen industry as a founding member of the liquefied hydrogen company and has a global network based on his years of experience in the hydrogen industry and study abroad, and Dr. Ali T-Raissi, a world-renowned hydrogen authority who has more than 40 years of hydrogen R&D experience as a hydrogen scholar who served as the director of the Advanced Energy Research Institute of Florida Center (FSEC). In addition, the director and director of the research institute also have the experience of high-experience researchers such as Dr. Heo Jae-young, former head of the Gas Research Institute of the Korea Gas Technology Corporation, and deep experience and know-how as a founding member of a hydrogen company. APG Clean Hydrogen Production Device Technology combines clean hydrogen production with CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage). Using low-temperature plasma technology, hydrocarbon gases such as natural gas and biomethane are converted into clean hydrogen and useful solid carbon materials, optimized in a form suitable for on-site/on-board methods that directly produce and utilize hydrogen if necessary by minimizing storage, transportation and portability, and securing energy savings and safety required through low reaction temperature (about 700 degrees) and securing domestic clean hydrogen production source technology through eco-friendly technology that produces hydrogen and solid carbon without emitting carbon dioxide. A representative business item is a container-type portable clean hydrogen production device, which is expected to be certified and commercialized in 2024 as a 10 Nh/hr class clean hydrogen production device APG-10. In addition to the domestic market, it aims to enter overseas markets beyond Korea by promoting CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects such as establishing sales channels in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia, using Hyundai Corporation networks (MOU and NDA), establishing hydrogen-based microgrids in Southeast Asia, and participating in domestic and overseas demonstration projects. Since its foundation in 2022, APGREEN has been growing into a true technology company, including three domestic patent registrations, one U.S. patent application, bench scale production, registration of venture companies and professional research businesses, and investment attraction, as well as excellent performance in various government-supported youth projects, including designation of future performance-sharing companies by the Small and Medium Venture Promotion Corporation and Youth Future Foundation.

From Seoul, a metaverse 3D avatar company, announced on the 18th that it has launched a virtual avatar creation solution 'EDEN' and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with global IT company Vrinsoft. From Seoul and Brinsoft will promote cooperation in expanding their businesses in Southeast Asia and the Americas, as well as the strategic use of △Virtual Reality Model (VRM) Avatar Solution Technology △ Seeking ways to apply it to immersive non-face-to-face services. Through this, it is said that it will attract innovation in VR/AR content with metaverse 3D avatar solution. From Seoul's EDEN platform will provide a virtual creative ecosystem including various virtual streamers for creators as well as virtual experiences. Developing standardized avatar standards to solve compatibility problems between metaverse ecosystems and establishing avatar SDKs for virtual space developers will be promoted. It also plans to start targeting domestic metaverse users and expand into global businesses in the future through cooperation with metaverse platforms and content producers. Through this cooperation, "we will show global examples of avatar technology and virtual identity solutions", said Choi Hyun-se, CEO of From Seoul. "We predict the impact of VRM avatar technology in various industries such as entertainment, education, and medical care." From Seoul is a company that expands its solution product line through research and development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D avatar customization. Through this cooperation, we expect to strengthen our capabilities in the VR/AR markets in Southeast Asia and the Americas.

On the 13th, the 2023 4th Seoul National University Campus Town Resident Regular Networking Event was completed successfully at the lounge on the 3rd and 1st floor of the startup HERE-RO. A total of 25 people attended the networking event, including not only tenant companies, but also excellent graduation companies, Samsung Securities officials, and prospective startups. Seoul National University Campus Town is conducting various events to create synergy between companies by sharing information and providing opportunities for collaboration between tenant companies and to create a start-up ecosystem through networking between tenant companies and graduating companies. In this networking, through direct exchanges between tenant and graduating companies, business-related networks were established, and great opportunities for identifying trends and obtaining information were provided. In particular, Kim Min-chul, Lee Sung-joong, and Park Bum-soo of Samsung Securities, who signed an MOU with Seoul National University's Campus Town Project Group, attended the fourth networking session to share their opinions with corporate representatives on initial investment. There was also a time for prospective founders who attended to receive a lot of know-how from the officials of the tenant company who are currently running the company. Through this networking, which was conducted more autonomously than before, tenant companies had time to share their business status and difficulties, and graduating companies had time to share their know-how on operating experience. Seoul National University's Campus Town Project Group will continue to provide business communities such as networking, where tenant companies and prospective founders can gain insight into trends and technologies, develop their business careers and create new opportunities.  

Meal care social venture "Nanum Vitamin" won the program "Women in Entrepreneurship" for female youth entrepreneurs of SC First Bank on September 20. SC First Bank's "Women in Entrepreneurship" is a program that discovers female young entrepreneurs and supports them to enter the global market. Nanum Vitamin won the Digital Innovator category out of 10 teams in Tier 1, an early female youth entrepreneur. Nanum Vitamin is a food fintech social venture that improves the accessibility and convenience of meals for vulnerable children using digital technology. In the "Nabi-Yam" application, it is the first to support a good influence store reservation service that provides free meals to vulnerable children nationwide. Kim Ha-yeon, CEO of Nanum Vitamin, said, "We are innovating our children's eating area, which is the most important to parents but still difficult to manage. "I think SC First Bank gave a good evaluation of its fintech capabilities and digital transformation business model. We will continue to lead the digital transformation in the food fintech field."

APGreen Co. Ltd. which provides clean hydrogen production solutions that use low-temperature plasma and carbon as catalysts, won the Excellence Award at the Youth Future Foundation's founding ceremony and the Youth Start-up Support Fund and Office Rental Certificate ceremony held in September. Park Tae-yoon, CEO of APGreen Co. Ltd. gave a brief technical explanation and company introduction of the "low-temperature plasma-based modular cyan hydrogen production device" in the announcement of the excellence award, and also expressed his aspiration as an entrepreneur based on technology management. Meanwhile, about 350 young businesses and young people in Seoul attended the inaugural ceremony of the Youth Future Foundation.Five former and current lawmakers also visited in person and sent congratulatory messages, drawing attention. APGREEN is a hydrogen company founded by Americans and Koreans and consists of members with various experiences and expertise. As an early and founding member of a liquefied hydrogen company, the CEO has an understanding of the hydrogen industry and start-up experience learned in practice, and the director also has experience as a founding member of a hydrogen company and the director of the research department. The head of the research institute is a world-renowned hydrogen authority in the United States and has more than 40 years of hydrogen R&D experience. In particular, APGREEN established Labscale in the U.S. in 2021 and started its business in Korea based on this, and aims to enter the U.S. market by establishing a U.S. corporation and completing the production of prototypes in 2024. It completed attracting investment from VC in the U.S. in August.

Oisa opened a tumblebuck funding page, heralding the launch of the menstrual cup "Oisa Bell." Oisa Bell is a bell-type (bell-shaped) menstrual cup that is inserted into a woman's vagina and receive menstrual blood. It can be used without replacement for up to 12 hours once worn, and has a ring that is easy to remove, making it suitable for beginners. The Oisa Bell consists of three sizes: mini, standard, and plus, so you can choose the size according to your preference. The company explained that the existing menstrual cup had to measure the vaginal length with fingers to select the size, while the Oysabell can be selected according to the expected wearing time or menstrual blood amount regardless of the vaginal length. Oisa also operated a pre-experience group so that you can try on the developed products in advance before crowdfunding. Participants of the experience group said, "There is no feeling and pressure," adding, "It was good to wear it for a long time when going out or sleeping." Oisa is a femtech brand operated by feminine healthcare start-up Dewey Labs and has developed Korea's first menstrual disk "Poy Cup." The Poi Cup was launched in October 2021 through Tumblebuck crowdfunding, and 5,883 sponsors participated at that time to raise about 200 million won, or 2006% of the target amount. This is the highest fundraising amount for crowdfunding in the menstrual products sector. As a tenant of Seoul National University's campus town, Dewey Labs receives free start-up space in Gwanak-gu, supports corporate explanations, participation in Demo Day, and benefits such as linking technology with Seoul National University faculty. Meanwhile, Lim Ji-won, CEO of Dewey Labs, said, "I hope you can easily try menstrual cups through Oisa Bell. We will continue to work on developing various types of menstrual cups to expand menstrual product options."

Meal Care Social Venture Nanum Vitamin won the Excellence Award at the "7th Social Contribution Partners Day" held on September 20. Social Contribution Partners Day is an event that leads corporate linkage with social contribution ideas that solve social problems, hosted by the Korea Social Welfare Council, organized by the Chosun Ilbo Better Future and Social Contribution Center, and sponsored by DGB Financial Group's DGB Social Contribution Foundation. A total of 10 companies participating in this Social Contribution Partners Day had a place to introduce ideas and projects for sustainable social contribution. Among them, Sharing Vitamin is a social venture that seeks to solve the inconvenience of the existing offline-based meal infrastructure for underfed children by converting it digitally, and operates a safe meal care platform that improves the accessibility of meals for the underprivileged. It was proposed to create a "butterfly effect" through sponsorship of meals for underfed children. It received great response from companies while operating a corporate introduction booth and won the Excellence Award. Kim Ha-yeon, CEO of Nanum Vitamin, said, "Our mission is to create an environment where children can grow up healthy through healthy meals. "Our ultimate goal is to create a world where children can grow up healthy with more partners," she said. In addition, Director Kim Eun-seo said, "The Naviyam service is a service that is virtually impossible without the cooperation of the local community, and I am always grateful to the local stores and institutions that participate. I believe we can make a bigger social impact if we work with companies. We look forward to cooperating with more companies and institutions starting with this Social Contribution Partners Day." Meanwhile, Nanum Vitamin has signed a business agreement with Haeyul, a law firm, to provide legal services to underfed children.

Sea navigation startup Mapsea (CEO Kim Ji-soo) recently attended an accelerating program in Jarbrücken, Germany, and won a local Demo Day, get a chance to enter Europe. The IBK Changgong Global Accelerating Program, attended by Mapsea, is a program that supports domestic startups' successful entry into Europe in cooperation with Jalant, Germany, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. This program was conducted for 10 innovation and venture start-ups such as IT, AI, and advanced manufacturing that were finally selected through screening, such as the German Jalant State Economic Promotion Corporation and Germany's local AC. Mapsea is a third-year startup that develops Sea navigation and provides Seanavigation services optimized for the needs of navigators through marine data under the vision of sustainably connecting the sea and humanity. Kim Woong-kyu, Director of the Institute of Science (CTO), said, "Matthew Navigation, which combines IoT, AI, and digital twin technologies with marine navigation, is developing a next-generation navigation system that can greatly contribute to fuel reduction and carbon emissions as well as help navigators to enable situational awareness and Voyage Optimization by combining the latest international standard electronic charts, real-time operation information and marine space information." Earlier, through its excellent technology and market verification, Mapsea received domestic and international attention last August by receiving the top prize at the Trade and Connectivity Challenge of Singapore's Enterprise Singapore, which was supported by 400 companies from more than 70 countries around the world. Mapsea plans to collect various sensors and various information on ships and expand overseas sequentially, starting with the launch of AI route recommendation applications optimized for the user's environment at the end of this year. "With this participation in the IBK Changgong Global (Europe) Accelerating Program, we are speeding up our efforts to enter the German market through meetings with local clients," a Mapsea official said. Mapsea, which started its first export to Singapore, plans to accelerate its expansion into the global market through networking with Hamburg, Germany, Europe's three largest ports, through this European program.