Ministry of SMEs selects 'AU' and 'Day One Lab' as top startups of the year

Global Startup Festival 'ComeUp' Special Event
15 Teams of Young Entrepreneurs Final Winners

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 17th that it held the 'Challenge! K-Startup 2021' championship as a special event of 'ComeUp 2021' at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul and selected the final winners. Photo by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 17th that it held the 'Challenge! K-Startup 2021' championship as a special event of 'COMEUP 2021' at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul and selected the final winners.

Challenge! K-Startup is Korea's representative startup competition operated through collaboration between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and various government ministries.

Since the business announcement in March this year, a total of 7,352 teams participated in nine preliminary leagues operated by 10 ministries, of which 180 teams advanced to the integrated preliminaries and finals. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected the final 20 teams to advance to the championship through an integrated evaluation conducted in October.

The grand prize (President's Award) in the startup company league was awarded to 'AU'. CEO Kim Baekhyun of AU, a KAIST researcher-turned-entrepreneur, founded the company after developing an in-vehicle human detection radar sensor item that can prevent accidents inside vehicles.

The grand prize (Prime Minister's Award) in the prospective entrepreneur league went to 'Day1Lab'. CEO Lee Joobong of Day1Lab, an engineering student who has long been interested in global warming issues, teamed up with graduate school colleagues to present biodegradable plastics with excellent properties.

This year, 67.6% of total applicants from the preliminaries were aged 30 or younger. Among the 20 teams advancing to the championship, 15 teams were aged 30 or younger, highlighting the active participation of young entrepreneurs.

The young entrepreneurs participating in the competition showcased startup items that solve social issues such as ▲environment ▲educational disparity ▲medical and healthcare by utilizing cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, achieving good results.

CEO Lee Seyoung of Ryuten Technologies, who loved writing since high school, developed writing software using text mining techniques aimed at reducing educational disparities and won the grand prize in the prospective entrepreneur league.

CEO Kim Jihoon of Cosmos Medic, who advanced to the championship as an active-duty military doctor, received the encouragement award in the prospective entrepreneur league with an AI system that can reduce patient waiting times, inspired by the emergency room bed shortage issue highlighted by COVID-19.

The 20 teams awarded in the championship will receive various follow-up support such as certificates, prize money, exemption from document evaluation and technology evaluation guarantee fees for next year's preliminary, early-stage, and leap packages under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' startup support projects. Four teams that did not advance to the championship will receive four special awards and a total prize money of 40 million KRW (10 million KRW each).

Cha Jeonghoon, Director of the Startup Venture Innovation Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Challenge! K-Startup has successfully established itself as an opportunity platform where entrepreneurs' creative ideas and advanced technologies are realized as innovative startups,” and added, “We will spare no effort to provide necessary support in cooperation with related ministries so that the awarded teams can achieve even greater results.”

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