Martial Arts, Open Innovation Event Held for Startups Seeking Expansion into Vietnam

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on the 22nd that it jointly held 'Startup Open Innovation: Beyond Vietnam' at the COEX Startup Branch with Daewon and The Invention Lab.

The event, held to discover domestic startups wishing to enter the Vietnamese market, saw four startups advance to the final round out of about 80 applicants who passed the document screening and first pitching evaluation.

The four finalists were The K Platform, which provides personalized tutoring and offline study centers; The Family Lab, offering digital healthcare services for women before and after pregnancy; Y Labs, a sample box review and recommendation service for baby products; and Front Nine, an apartment community-based food delivery and errand service. The evaluation was jointly conducted by Daewon's CEO Jeon Eung-sik and employees, along with The Invention Lab.

The selected companies will receive investment from the 'Daewon-The Invention Lab 4IR Early-stage Startup Joint Fund,' opportunities to discover cooperative business models with subsidiaries in the infant and child commerce sector, access to local office infrastructure, consideration for support from the association's overseas testbed in other regions, and additional points for startup overseas expansion vouchers.

Park Sun-kyung, head of the Innovation Ecosystem Office at KITA, said, "With Daewon and The Invention Lab's strong commitment to discovering and collaborating with innovative startups, we expect good investment outcomes," adding, "The association will also spare no support for our startups' global expansion."

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