Gyeongnam Province Visits Young Startup Company 'Kick the Hurdle'

Park Jong-won, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs, "Gyeongnam Province Will Actively Support to Help Startup Companies Grow"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] On the 21st, Park Jongwon, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeongnam Province, visited 'Kick the Hurdle,' a representative startup company growing in the province, to prepare support measures for startup company growth.

Kick the Hurdle is a newly established venture company founded in 2018, and most of its executives and employees, including CEO Kim Taeyang, a former pharmacist, are young, born in the late 1980s.

Over the three years since its founding, the company has strengthened its research and development capabilities by winning several research projects hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and Gyeongnam Technopark.

The flagship brand that Kick the Hurdle has launched on the market is 'Phytotics,' a health functional food well known as a cost-effective probiotic designed by pharmacists.

In addition, they have introduced product lines such as 'Baby' and 'Kids' targeting children, 'Yellow' aimed at adult women, and 'Red,' which contributes to weight loss.

What distinguishes Kick the Hurdle from other startups is that it operates its own media channel.

In April last year, they launched the YouTube channel 'Mission Possible,' featuring YouTuber 'Agent H,' who is active as an instructor in the 'Fake Men' series.

They have also been steadily attracting investment funds from investors. Having raised about 4 billion KRW so far, they plan to secure investments exceeding 10 billion KRW by the end of this year.

Riding on this growth momentum, they are determined to establish themselves as a leading healthcare commerce startup.

Kim Taeyang, CEO of Kick the Hurdle, stated, "We plan to challenge ourselves with the development of individually certified products and the launch of 'CureFit,' a personalized health functional food subscription platform," adding, "We want to grow aiming to become the first healthcare unicorn startup in Korea."

Park Jongwon, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeongnam Province, said, "We expect a unicorn company to emerge by receiving investments exceeding 10 billion KRW in Gyeongnam Province," and added, "Gyeongnam Province will support the growth of startup companies."

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