Seoul City to Open Hongneung 'BT-IT Convergence Center' on 30th... 21 Companies Move In

Promotion of Convergence of Bio-Medical, Big Data, AI, and IT Technologies
Up to 4 Years Residency, 1:1 Consulting, Investment Attraction IR, and Growth Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] As Seoul City is developing Hongneung as a hub for the bio and medical industries, the first digital healthcare specialized startup space, the ‘BT-IT Convergence Center,’ will open on the 30th. This facility aims to nurture digital healthcare startups and promote convergence between bio/medical industries and other sectors such as big data and AI.

The ‘BT-IT Convergence Center’ was created by expanding and remodeling the former Defense Venture Center near Wolgok Station on Subway Line 6, with a total floor area of 2,884㎡, spanning from one basement floor to five above-ground floors (with two additional floors added).

The center includes individual office spaces for 27 startups less than five years old in the digital healthcare field, as well as various types of coworking spaces on each floor designed to enhance communication and collaboration. It also features a prototype production room equipped with high-spec equipment that early-stage startups would find costly to purchase, a big data analysis room (server room) to support high-performance computing resources, and product exhibition and promotion halls.

Twenty-one startups selected through a public competition have completed their move-in. Along with the opening of the ‘BT-IT Convergence Center,’ Seoul City will officially launch customized growth programs. Resident companies can stay for up to four years at a low rent, using all convenience facilities and research infrastructure within the center free of charge, allowing them to focus on technology development.

They can also receive the same corporate support programs operated by ‘Seoul Bio Hub,’ a startup incubation and networking base in the Hongneung area. Professional consultants and consulting firms provide one-on-one consulting for business commercialization, and startups can participate in business-related training, seminars, and IR (Investor Relations) events for fundraising. They also have opportunities to attend bio-medical conferences held domestically and internationally to expand their business networks.

In particular, prototypes essential before productizing a company’s ideas can be produced free of charge using the latest equipment such as high-precision 3D printers in the center’s ‘Prototype Production Room.’ Developed products and services can be exhibited and promoted at the ‘Healthcare Station,’ and market reactions can be pre-tested through a ‘Local Resident Experience Group’ composed of residents from Seongbuk-gu.

Meanwhile, Seoul City is building infrastructure in two phases to enhance the bio-medical competitiveness of the Hongneung area. The ‘BT-IT Convergence Center’ is the first facility of the second phase infrastructure and the sixth bio-medical startup support facility to open in the Hongneung area.

The ‘Seoul Bio Hub,’ the first-phase infrastructure facility and a hub encompassing bio-medical startup support infrastructure in the Hongneung area, has housed a total of 115 companies (cumulative). Since its opening in 2017, it has achieved KRW 37.3 billion in corporate sales, KRW 267.8 billion in investment attraction, and 938 new jobs as of last year.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, said, “The BT-IT Convergence Center is the first bio startup facility created to specially support the digital healthcare sector, which is recognized as a promising future industry of Seoul City. We will develop Hongneung into an optimal startup environment where ‘technology-startup-growth’ forms a virtuous cycle, making it a cradle where startups nurtured by Seoul grow into world-leading companies.”

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