Baek Woosung, CEO of Selcos, Awarded the Gold Tower Industrial Medal for Contributions to Venture Startup Promotion

2020 Venture Startup Promotion Merit Award Ceremony Held

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) announced on the 15th that it held an awards ceremony at Seoul EL Tower in Yangjae-dong to honor individuals and organizations that have contributed to the development of the venture startup ecosystem in Korea. Marking its 22nd year, this ceremony rewards those who have contributed to the development of the venture industry and innovative growth. For the third consecutive year, the highest honor, the Gold Tower Industrial Medal, was awarded to individuals who contributed to the development of the venture and startup ecosystem. The total number of awards was 164, including 2 medals, 3 plaques, 17 presidential citations, 17 prime minister citations, and 125 ministerial citations from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The highest honor, the Gold Tower Industrial Medal, was awarded to Baek Woo-sung, CEO of Selcos, and the Silver Tower Industrial Medal was awarded to Jung Yong-ji, CEO of Caregen. The Industrial Medal was awarded to Gil Moon-jong, CEO of Mediana, Yoo Seung-kyo, CEO of WithTech, and Yoon Geon-su, CEO of DNC Investment. Baek Woo-sung, CEO of Selcos, was recognized for developing the world's first green-eco-friendly surface treatment new technology, contributing to strengthening national competitiveness and industrial development domestically and internationally. He was also acknowledged for leading employment stability by employing all staff as regular employees and creating a female-friendly workplace culture, earning him the Gold Tower Industrial Medal.

Baek Woo-sung, CEO of Selcos, awarded the Geumtap Industrial Medal

Jung Yong-ji, CEO of Caregen, who received the Silver Tower Industrial Medal, was selected for his contribution to national economic development and strengthening global competitiveness by exporting over 90% of sales to more than 130 countries based on world-class technology in the field of Peptide research and development. Gil Moon-jong, CEO of Mediana, was recognized for successfully developing domestic medical patient monitoring devices based on original technology for biometric signal measurement. Yoo Seung-kyo, CEO of WithTech, was acknowledged for contributing to environmental protection and industrial competitiveness improvement through the development of contamination source monitoring technology for the semiconductor and display industries. Yoon Geon-su, CEO of DNC Investment, was honored with the Industrial Medal for focusing more than 60% of total investment funds on early-stage startup companies as a specialized early-stage venture capital.

The event was held as a non-face-to-face awards ceremony, with 31 out of 39 government award recipients, including venture companies, startups, and investment firms, attending in person at the ceremony, while 8 recipients and their families and colleagues participated online. In addition, in compliance with the elevated social distancing level 2.5 guidelines due to the spread of COVID-19, the number of participants was limited to fewer than 50, maintaining a distance of one person per 4㎡. Measures such as fever checks using thermal cameras and installation of transparent acrylic partitions at each seat were also implemented in accordance with social distancing protocols.

Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "The year 2020 was a challenging year with many crises such as economic recession caused by COVID-19, but venture companies increased jobs by about 27,000 from June last year over one year, and created more than 10,000 jobs in the first half of this year. In the third quarter of this year, the number of startup companies reached 343,000, a 13.3% increase compared to the same quarter last year, making venture and startup companies a pillar of our economy." She emphasized, "An analysis of venture and unicorn companies in the Korean stock market shows that around 2000, only 6 venture companies were among the top 20 by market capitalization, but now there are 13. These 13 venture companies have a combined market capitalization of 45 trillion won, accounting for 12.4% of the total KOSDAQ market capitalization of 359 trillion won. This confirms that domestic venture and unicorn companies are rising stars in the stock market and that a virtuous cycle venture ecosystem from startup-growth-unicorn-exit (IPO, initial public offering) is being established."

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