CJ Completes Selection of 10 Startups for 'Obentus 2nd Cohort'... Full-Scale Collaboration Begins

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] CJ Group announced on the 27th that it has completed the recruitment for the startup win-win open innovation program ‘O!VentUs 2nd Batch’ and will begin full-scale collaboration.

Co-hosted with the Seoul Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, ‘O!VentUs’ is an open innovation initiative that discovers small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and research institutes with excellent technology and business models, supporting joint technology development and commercialization with CJ Group affiliates. It was planned to secure differentiated future innovative technologies and to promote the growth of startups and the industrial ecosystem.

For this ‘O!VentUs 2nd Batch’ recruitment, a total of about 200 applications were received in four fields: ▲AI & Big Data ▲Food Tech ▲Logistics ▲Media & Content. Among them, 10 companies were finally selected by focusing on compatibility with the support fields, potential, and business capabilities. Most of these companies were highly evaluated for their great potential due to possessing differentiated new technologies and business models.

CJ will conduct an approximately 8-week scale-up and incubating program to maximize the technology and potential of the selected startups. It will provide support funds of 10 million KRW necessary for technology commercialization and combine the capabilities of key affiliates within CJ Group to jointly develop technology/business models and verify their potential.

In the case of CJ CheilJedang, it will assist in data-based trend analysis and marketing solution development, while CJ Freshway will support the development of big data application solutions and additional services for foodservice operators. CJ Logistics will focus on stabilizing data-based logistics processing, and CJ ENM will promote the advancement of the content industry using 4th industrial revolution technologies.

Subsequently, through a ‘Demo Day’ where business achievements and plans are introduced and presented, a total prize of 20 million KRW will be awarded to outstanding companies, and opportunities for external investment linkage will also be provided.

CJ plans to continue its efforts for win-win growth with startups by additionally recruiting the 3rd batch of O!VentUs in the second half of the year. A CJ official said, “Many excellent companies beyond expectations applied for this ‘O!VentUs 2nd Batch,’ making the selection process difficult,” and added, “Based on CJ’s strengths in key businesses such as food, logistics, and media, we look forward to discovering innovative models together with the selected companies.”

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