New Releases, Five Companies Selected as 3rd Innovation Icon Firms... 35 Billion KRW Guarantee Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Haeyoung Kwon] The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) announced on the 6th that it has selected five startups with high potential to grow into unicorn companies valued at $10 trillion as the '3rd Innovation Icons.'

The Innovation Icon support program was introduced by KODIT in May last year to discover and support startups with innovative business models that have high potential to grow into excellent mid-sized or global companies. Last year, KODIT selected a total of 12 companies in two rounds.

This time, 216 companies applied for the 3rd Innovation Icon recruitment, a 37.6% increase compared to the previous round, showing a high competition rate of 43 to 1. KODIT conducted a rigorous selection process including document screening, presentation evaluation, and guarantee screening, and finally selected five companies.

The 3rd Innovation Icons are ▲ Lisense Medical, a company developing a device that cools and anesthetizes the eyeball in 10 seconds without using chemical drugs ▲ Brandy, a Dongdaemun-based clothing shopping e-commerce platform expanding its fulfillment services ▲ Vertis, which developed an early breast cancer diagnosis solution through blood protein analysis ▲ Green Labs, which commercialized an IoT-based smart farm automatic control system as cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) ▲ Studio Seed Korea, a company developing an interaction design tool that easily expresses digital design ideas without coding.

KODIT selected Innovation Icons focusing on companies at the leap stage that are beginning full-scale growth rather than high-growth companies on the verge of becoming unicorns. Companies with no sales or operating at a loss but with high growth potential based on innovative business models were included in the selection.

KODIT will provide guarantee support of 7 billion KRW per company, totaling 35 billion KRW, through dedicated organizations to the five selected Innovation Icon companies, and offer customized services such as overseas expansion, labor consulting, and business linkage between companies considering each company's characteristics. Last month, KODIT signed an 'Innovation Icon Financial Support Business Agreement' with four banks?Korea Development Bank, Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, and Hana Bank?applying a preferential interest rate of 0.7 percentage points to Innovation Icon companies. Through this, the number of partner banks expanded from two (Shinhan and Industrial Bank of Korea) to six, improving financial cost reduction and convenience for Innovation Icon companies.

A KODIT official said, "The Innovation Icon support program is gaining market response by establishing itself as a scale-up program for innovative startups in the startup ecosystem," adding, "KODIT will continue to do its best to help innovative startups grow into unicorns."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.