Seoul City Launches First Commercialization of Six 'Sewoon Made' Products via Social Funding

14 Exhibits in Cheonggye Sanghoe Showroom at Sewoon Electronics Museum ... Open for Public Viewing and Purchase

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The 'Cassette MP3' featured on the crowdfunding platform 'Tumblbug' is an audio device shaped like a cassette tape, which has become nostalgic in today's smartphone-dominated era. It has attracted attention as a product that offers analog sentimentality to the millennial generation in their 20s and 30s, and nostalgia and romance to the 30s and 40s middle-aged group, successfully raising more than 18 times its initial funding goal in just over 50 days. This product was jointly developed by a young startup and a skilled artisan from Sewoon Shopping Center and was created through the 'Sewoon Made Project' supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

On the 2nd, Seoul announced that six products introduced through the 'Sewoon Made Project' have received investments exceeding their initial targets through social funding and will be launched as products.

Started last year, the Sewoon Made Project supports prototype production to revitalize the urban manufacturing industry around the Sewoon Shopping Center area. Centered on the Sewoon Technology Brokerage Office, it facilitates collaboration between skilled artisans and young startups to jointly develop new products and commercialize them through crowdfunding investments.

The six products that succeeded in funding this time are ▲ the retro-style 'Cassette MP3' ▲ the upcycled product 'Dalmatian Shelf' made from plastic bottle caps ▲ the metal drinking cup 'Sulla' for Makgeolli and traditional liquors ▲ the Korean-style lighting 'Sarangbang 2020 Bitgeureut' reminiscent of traditional lanterns ▲ the vacuum tube Bluetooth speaker 'KNOT' made by an artisan ▲ and the 'Analog Dual Channel Effector' capable of switching various functions with a single switch.

Among these, the product with the highest funding achievement rate was the Cassette MP3 (BBT), which raised about 36 million KRW, achieving 1840% of its funding goal. The product's exterior was produced using a 3D printer after consultation with the Sewoon Prototype Committee, and it incorporates multi-variety small-batch production technology with various features such as touch sensor controls.

The Dalmatian Shelf (Rosad Studio), which had the second-highest achievement rate, expressed the Dalmatian pattern on the shelf using plastic bottle caps. All products were handmade. The traditional cup Sulla (Almond Studio), which achieved a 537% funding rate, is a new style metal drinking cup for the traditional liquor and Makgeolli market, equipped with sterilization functions. It was produced through collaboration between a young design company and a metal processing company with over 40 years of experience in Euljiro.

These products are currently in prototype or pre-launch stages and will be produced as actual products with support from small investors, with sales expected to begin as early as the beginning of this month. The city plans to exhibit a total of 14 Sewoon Made prototypes, including the successfully funded products, at the Cheonggye Sanghoe showroom inside the Sewoon Electronics Museum, allowing the general public to view and purchase them.

Meanwhile, through Sewoon Made, Seoul is establishing an industrial regeneration foundation in the Sewoon Shopping Center area by regularly co-developing new products that reflect local characteristics. The city also operates the 'Sewoon Technology Brokerage Office,' which provides consultations for product development, launch, and sales, and the urban manufacturing industry mapping service 'Sewoon Map (map.sewoon.org)'.

Yang Yong-taek, Director of Regeneration Policy Planning at Seoul City, said, "We expect Sewoon Made, which develops regionally specialized products tailored to consumers through social funding, to play a significant role in revitalizing the urban manufacturing industry in the Sewoon area in the long term." He added, "We will continue to operate Sewoon Made to develop competitive products and advance it as a leading model of industrial regeneration."

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