College Students Dreaming of Startups, "Ya~You Can Do It Too"

Ministry of Science and ICT to Host Laboratory Startup Festival from 16th to 18th

The photo was taken at the 2020 Busan Venture Startup Festival and is not related to the article. Archive photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The Ministry of Science and ICT will hold the Lab Start-up Festival 2021 online for three days from the 16th to the 18th.

This event brings together lab start-up teams, renowned domestic and international entrepreneurs, venture capitalists (VCs), and accelerators to share the entrepreneurial achievements of students who challenged start-ups through the Ministry's university start-up support projects over the past year, and to exchange various opinions to revitalize university start-ups. The Ministry of Science and ICT has previously conducted university start-up support projects such as the lab-specialized start-up leading university cultivation project and the public technology-based market-linked start-up exploration support project.

This event is broadly divided into three themes: ▲National Investors ▲Growth Ladder ▲Global Perspective. First, under ‘National Investors,’ the ‘National Customer Exploration’ theme features the ‘Ya! Nado Investor’ competition, where the general public acts as potential customers to evaluate start-up items and provide feedback. The achievements of 999 lab start-ups are exhibited on an online platform, and the general public who view them invest virtual cash in a simulated crowdfunding manner, selecting seven outstanding teams based on the amount invested.

‘Growth Ladder’ is held over two days, the 17th and 18th, under the theme of ‘Interactive Network between Start-up Teams and Investors,’ offering various competitive programs and providing opportunities for start-up technologies to enter the market.

On the 17th, the ‘Senior Biz-up’ event features eight senior start-up teams who received training before 2019 presenting their business items to VCs, providing opportunities to attract investment. The following day, the ‘Lab Start-up Battle,’ an IR competition judged by experts from domestic investment institutions such as Kakao Ventures, will select five outstanding start-up teams.

On the 18th, the ‘Global Perspective’ event shares success know-how from domestic and international entrepreneurial seniors through programs aimed at exploring ways to revitalize university start-ups, boosting the morale of prospective entrepreneurs. CEO Kwon Seong-hoon of QuantaMatrix and CEO Ko Gwang-pyo of GoBioLab will share their lab start-up experiences, investment attraction know-how, and advice for prospective entrepreneurs. Additionally, First Vice Minister Jeong Byeong-seon of the Ministry of Science and ICT, along with start-up leaders active on the global stage such as CEO Jo Seong-hwan of NanoSelect Biomedical, CEO Josh Lee of Sweet, CEO Kwak Tae-il of PalmSkin, and Professor Kim Jong-sung of Boston University, will gather online to explore ways to revitalize university start-ups.

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