Global Startup Academy Achieves Job Creation and Investment Attraction Even Before Graduation

Since Admission in August, 160 New Hires and 4.5 Billion KRW Investment Attracted as of Late November Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Startups from the 'Global Startup Academy,' newly established by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in August last year, are generating results even before graduation.

The Global Startup Academy is a program established by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to nurture global startups in the field of artificial intelligence. It has attracted attention by involving leading global AI companies (AWS, INTEL, NVIDIA, MS), top global startup accelerators (500Startups, SOSV, Plug&Play, Startupbootcamp), and outstanding domestic AI experts.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 4th, 60 startups with less than three years of business experience were selected to enter the Global Startup Academy in July last year, and the full-scale operation of the academy began in August.

Four global companies leading the AI field (AWS, INTEL, NVIDIA, MS) provided education tailored to each company's characteristics, such as their AI business strategies and solution utilization methods. Over 50 domestic AI experts from institutions like the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and NHN Corporation offered level-based education on AI in general. Project education using the global competition platform Kaggle was also conducted.

For incubation, four top global startup accelerators (500Startups, SOSV, Plug&Play, Startupbootcamp) participated, with two experts from each accelerator residing at the Global Startup Academy to provide both online and offline incubation.

In particular, by leveraging the overseas networks of the startup accelerators, online workshops were held with startups and unicorn companies in Silicon Valley and other locations, broadening the perspectives of the startup teams. They also connected startup teams with overseas partners that matched their business items, leading to high satisfaction among the startups.

The results of the excellent education appeared quickly. Within four months of entry, all 60 startup teams newly employed 160 people, and 18 startup teams attracted investments totaling 4.5 billion KRW. AU Co., Ltd., which developed a high-frequency radar sensor for detecting biological signals, increased its staff from 3 before entry to 10 after entry, adding 7 employees, and attracted investments exceeding 1.5 billion KRW.

Soinet Co., Ltd., which possesses AI usage environment optimization technology, increased its staff from 5 to 13 after entry and attracted 600 million KRW in investments from institutions including IBK (Industrial Bank of Korea).

Park Jung-woo, CEO of Soinet Co., Ltd., said, "In a situation where overseas exchanges are difficult due to COVID-19, the Global Startup Academy helped broaden our business perspective. Especially, our dedicated startup accelerator, Startupbootcamp, introduced us to the most suitable global partner company, and we plan to have a meeting soon, so our expectations for overseas expansion are very high."

A Ministry of SMEs and Startups official stated, "We plan to hold a graduation ceremony at the end of February next year, where the startup teams will present their final business items. Global companies, startup accelerators, partner overseas investors, and others will participate online to lead follow-up investment attraction. We also plan to recruit the second batch of startup teams for the Global Startup Academy in February."

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