"Calling All College Students Dreaming of Innovation"... KTB Venture Challenge 2020 Held

Providing Selected Teams with 3 Months of Business Development Support... Also Granting 100 Million KRW for Commercialization Funds

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] KTB Group is conducting a startup nurturing program for university students in collaboration with the Seoul Venture Incubator under the Korea Venture Business Association.

On the 1st, KTB Group announced the launch of the 'KTB Venture Challenge 2020.' This venture and startup nurturing program aims to discover and foster outstanding entrepreneurial talent among undergraduate and graduate students and support their startups. Through document screening and presentation evaluations, 20 teams will be selected to receive intensive support including startup education and mentoring for about a month. Afterwards, the final 10 teams will be chosen through an idea competition.

The final selected teams will receive a follow-up program lasting approximately three months and a total of 100 million KRW in commercialization funds. Among them, two teams with outstanding performance will be granted office space benefits within the Seoul Venture Incubator.

Applications are open until the 31st. Any undergraduate or graduate student can apply. Successful candidates will be announced on the 17th of next month after document and presentation evaluations.

This event is part of KTB Group's social contribution activities. Funding was secured through a portion of the management fees from KTB Asset Management's KOSDAQ Venture Fund and donations from KTB Investment & Securities and KTB Network. Since its first launch last year, the program is planned to continue for five years with a total scale of 1 billion KRW. Last year, a total of 152 teams applied, and 'PetD' from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), which proposed an 'early diagnosis kit for malignant tumors in pets,' won the grand prize. PetD has achieved approval application with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and secured separate investment funding. The excellence award winner 'Whatsup' also launched 'Whatsup,' a subscription service integrated management platform, and attracted investment.

A KTB Group official explained the purpose of the event, saying, "It is a reality that university students find it difficult to start businesses due to lack of experience and funds," and added, "We want to provide a stepping stone for young students who are taking on challenges to start their own businesses."

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