Social Venture Companies Discovered by Cho Yong-byeong and Choi Tae-won

The representatives of 'Rocket Punch-Enspire,' selected for the contest with their shared office model (from the top left in the photo clockwise: Jeong Hyeong-seok, Co-CEO of Enspire; Jo Min-hee, CEO of Rocket Punch; Kim Seong-min, Co-CEO of Enspire). Photo by [Photographer's Name]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] #Social venture 'Rocket Punch,' operating a recruitment platform for startups and IT companies, and brand development and space planning specialist 'Nspire' are creating a new workspace called 'Jibmusil,' meaning a personal office near home. It features a one-person office space resembling an open capsule. This aims to enhance work concentration and address social issues such as rising housing costs, fatigue from long commutes, and increased carbon emissions. The two companies strengthened their ability to solve social problems by merging last May.

#'VisualCamp-Dubrain' combines VisualCamp's eye-tracking technology (camera tracking eye movement) with Dubrain's online education services. Their goal is to detect signs of developmental disabilities in children and provide customized education. They plan to analyze the gaze characteristics of children with developmental disabilities as they view various images of people and objects on digital devices like smartphones, and if diagnosis is confirmed through medical institutions, support learning through Dubrain's child brain development education program. The two companies aim to accelerate growth by leveraging their technologies together.

On the 30th, SK announced that it selected six alliances of social venture companies with business models that pursue profit while solving social problems, such as 'Rocket Punch-Nspire' and 'VisualCamp-Dubrain,' through a contest.

Each alliance will receive investments of up to 2 to 3 billion KRW from KAIST Youth Startup Investment Holdings, Shinhan Financial Group, YD (Yellowdog)-SK-KDB Social Value Investment Fund, and others.

From February to April, SK, Shinhan Financial Group, KAIST Social Entrepreneur Center, and YD-SK-KDB Social Value Investment Fund held the 'Impact Unicorn' alliance contest.

The contest was held with the purpose of providing full support by evaluating alliances where multiple social ventures seek growth through strong ties such as equity exchanges or present future plans.

Sixty-three alliances (232 companies) applied for the contest, and after document screening and interviews, six were finally selected.

Selected companies will receive investment funds, one-on-one mentoring, connections to projects by the organizing companies, and various services including legal, accounting, and HR support. Shinhan Financial Group plans to actively provide mentoring based on its accumulated know-how in nurturing companies through Shinhan Future's Lab (a startup accelerator program).

'Impact Unicorn' refers to companies that contribute to solving social problems by creating significant economic and social value. Although the actual company size does not correspond to a 'unicorn' company with a valuation of 1 trillion KRW, the name was created to signify sufficient contribution to society.

In this regard, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won has emphasized that to attract excellent talent to companies creating social value, they must have a certain level of sales and potential, and that growth speed can be more efficiently increased through alliances and combinations between companies rather than supporting a single company.

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byeong also stressed the importance of building an innovation growth ecosystem and pledged to provide necessary support for social and general startups to grow into 'Impact Unicorns' leading social value creation.

Personalized health meal therapy company 'EatMaple' partnered with 'FreshCode,' specializing in hub delivery of healthy convenience meals. The two companies aim to grow as a platform contributing to people's health improvement through meal therapy management tailored to individual life cycles.

'Crepas-Nitpick' is creating a youth financial platform to provide total financial services for youth in collaboration with service providers in housing, living, and education, while 'Poin-Impact Square' aims to address global warming by manufacturing solid fuel from recycled agricultural byproducts in Myanmar.

'HGI' is building a platform connecting large corporations and social ventures to provide ecosystem infrastructure for social venture growth and will also serve as a partner in expanding the SK-related ecosystem.

Lee Hyung-hee, SV Committee Chair of SK Supex Council, which organized the contest, said, "Although individual companies are small in scale, they can create significant change in solving social problems through alliances and collaboration," adding, "We will ensure that alliances become new role models for creating social value."

Meanwhile, on August 12, an online live seminar titled 'Impact Unicorn: Future Leaders Who Will Change the World' will be held, where selected companies will present their business plans. The seminar will introduce the necessity of Impact Unicorns, the background of the contest, and future development plans, and will be an opportunity to discuss growth strategies for social ventures.

The online seminar will be held as a pre-session (SUB-SOVAC) event ahead of the main SOVAC (Social Value Connect) festival, the largest private social value festival in Korea, scheduled for September. It can be viewed by accessing the SOVAC website or searching 'SOVAC' on YouTube.

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