More than 8 out of 10 Startups Say "Need Demonstration Opportunities When Developing New Technologies"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] It has been argued that in order to promote cooperation and coexistence between domestic startups and large and medium-sized enterprises, as well as to develop the startup ecosystem, opportunities for demonstration PoC (Proof-of-Concept) to actually test innovative technologies and related support must be further expanded.

Demonstration PoC provides startups with opportunities to demonstrate by utilizing actual complex multi-facility or internal and external systems of large corporations as testbeds, integrating and applying new technologies and innovative solutions that are not yet commercialized.

In a survey on demonstration PoC testbeds conducted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) in early November targeting 311 domestic startups, 87.5% of respondent companies answered "necessary" to the question "How necessary is demonstration PoC for developing new technologies and products?" In particular, startups with past demonstration PoC experience (90.9%) and early-stage startups with sales under 1 billion KRW (92.8%) showed a greater need for demonstration PoC.

The most cited reason for needing demonstration PoC was "securing business references and track records with other companies" (48%), followed by "judging whether to launch products through usability demonstration" (27.5%) and "technology supplementation" (19.4%).

However, difficulties in promoting demonstration PoC were reported due to challenges such as "lack of budget and manpower" (63.9%), "securing demonstration PoC opportunities" (48.5%), and "issues with regulatory and legal applications" (24.5%).

As partners for conducting demonstration PoC, "government and public institutions" (71.7%) were most preferred, followed by "domestic large corporations" (48.2%), "overseas large corporations" (32.5%), "domestic medium-sized enterprises" (28%), and "overseas governments and public institutions" (20.3%).

The startup community expressed a desire for linked support even after the completion of demonstration PoC, such as "linkage to public procurement markets for demonstrated products" (68.2%), "issuance of demonstration completion certificates" (39.2%), and "expert consultation based on demonstration results" (37.6%).

Cho Sang-hyun, Head of the Startup Global Support Office at KITA, said, "While existing open innovation verifies technology and solutions only at the final stage, testbeds allow pre-verification and post-matching, fostering coexistence between companies and startups. The association will further increase opportunities for demonstration PoC related to startups and strengthen linked support."

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