The First Startup to Solve Large Corporation Challenges Emerges (Comprehensive)

KT Commissioned 'Immersive Virtual Reality Service' Solver Final Competition Held
Mangrove, Innertainment, and Iruda Selected as Finalists After 17:1 Competition

On the 16th, participating companies of the Dae-Star Solver Platform Demo Day are taking a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The first startup problem solver to address the concerns of large corporations has emerged. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) announced on the 16th that it held the final selection round of the first phase of the Large-Startup Problem Solver Platform, KT's 'Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Service' contest, selecting Mangrove, Innertainment, and Iruda.

The 'Large-Startup Problem Solver Platform' is a win-win cooperation policy that connects large corporations and startups to solve each other's problems and complement their different capabilities. The first phase set six key technology fields that have gained more attention after the COVID-19 pandemic: artificial intelligence content, immersive media, future mobility, food-related technology (FoodTech), and eco-friendly materials. The contest began with tasks assigned by each large corporation, and from this day until the 26th, final startup selections for each of the eight large corporation tasks will be held sequentially.

KT participated in the 'Immersive Media field,' proposing the expansion of the use of non-face-to-face content, which has become more utilized due to COVID-19, and ways to enhance the realism of virtual reality (VR) services. A total of 52 startups challenged this task. Six startups that passed the two-stage preliminary evaluation advanced to the finals, showcasing VR services applied in various fields such as 'K-pop online concerts,' 'underwater virtual experiences,' 'virtual experience-based psychological therapy,' 'non-face-to-face fan meetings,' 'interactive educational content,' and '3D geographic information system (GIS)-based virtual travel.'

Among them, Mangrove, which implemented underwater virtual scuba diving experiences and underwater performance content services using underwater footage, received high scores for possessing advanced underwater filming technology and holding numerous contents of famous domestic and international underwater filming locations that can be immediately utilized despite filming restrictions due to COVID-19, demonstrating strong competitiveness.

Innertainment proposed an 'interactive educational service' based on conflict situations that may occur in elementary school life, where different conclusions are drawn depending on user choices. It was evaluated to enhance user immersion and concentration by combining video and games, and received high marks for its potential to supplement limited experiential learning during COVID-19 with VR experiences, leading to its selection.

Iruda proposed immersive travel content using public data from the '3D Geographic Information System (GIS).' When users select a travel destination, they move via virtual experience flights and can view every corner of the destination through 360-degree videos. It also applies various interactive services such as multi-party remote access and voice chat to allow friends and family to join together, which earned it high scores.

On the 16th, Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, delivered an encouragement speech at the Demo Day of the Da-Star Solution Platform.

The startups finally selected will be awarded at the performance sharing event held on the 1st of next month at Sejong Hall, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, and will receive up to 2.5 billion KRW in government support, including commercialization funding (100 million KRW), technology development (up to 400 million KRW), and technology special guarantee (up to 2 billion KRW). They will also gain opportunities to jointly promote projects with large corporations and expand globally by utilizing overseas networks.

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo stated, "The media industry is rapidly changing paradigms due to the spread of non-face-to-face interactions caused by COVID-19 and the development of 5G technology, making fresh ideas and technological capabilities from startups urgently needed. We have high expectations as we can discover and collaborate with capable startups through the Large-Startup Problem Solver Platform."

Minister Park Young-sun, who visited the site that day, said, "The immersive media field, which can overcome the constraints of time and space to realize non-face-to-face experiences due to COVID-19, has gained new opportunities. Through the Large-Startup Problem Solver Platform, I hope that KT, which possesses large-capacity and ultra-high-speed communication infrastructure, and startups in the media field will secure new growth engines together and grow together."

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