SK Inno Gains Attention at AVPN Northeast Asia Summit with Eco-Friendly Startup Incubation Model

Government, Large Corporations, and Impact Funds Alliance... Establishing Korea's First Eco-Friendly Startup Ecosystem

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation attracted attention by introducing the 'Egg' program, a model for fostering an eco-friendly startup ecosystem jointly established by the government, large corporations, and impact funds, to global investors for the first time in Korea.

SK Innovation announced on the 12th that it participated in the 'AVPN Northeast Asia Summit' held in Seoul, sharing various topics related to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)-linked impact investment, sustainable management, and cooperation between the public and private sectors.

AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network) is Asia's largest network of impact investors and social innovation organizations, comprising about 600 global investment institutions and companies such as BlackRock and the Rockefeller Foundation.

'Egg' is a 'Startup Leap Package-based Large Corporation Collaboration Program' created through a partnership between SK Innovation, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development. Since September, Egg has selected 20 eco-friendly startups to support their growth into green unicorns while aiming to build an eco-friendly startup ecosystem.

Startups selected for 'Egg' receive up to 300 million KRW per company as commercialization support funds based on the Startup Leap Package, which can be used to develop pilot projects (Test Bed) with SK Innovation. Additionally, up to 3 to 5 outstanding startups will be selected to receive joint commercialization opportunities with SK Innovation’s affiliated business subsidiaries, and joint investments with impact funds that invest for social innovation will be considered.

At the session, startups participating in Egg evaluated the program not as a simple corporate social responsibility activity by a large corporation but as a good example of mutual growth between large corporations and startups.

Shin Min-jung, CEO of Right Route, said, "Through cooperation with SKIET, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, we were able to accelerate material development by receiving battery waste separator samples, and we received support through startup-tailored education such as IR coaching and ESG certification."

The panelists participating in the session agreed that creating an eco-friendly ecosystem is a challenging task to achieve in a short period and expressed their intention to continuously expand eco-friendly impact by developing mutual cooperation models.

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