Hanaventures Hosts the '4th Early Startup Competition'

Hana Ventures, the venture capital subsidiary of Hana Financial Group, held the "4th Early Startup Competition" on the afternoon of the 15th at its headquarters in Gangnam-gu to discover promising early startups and support the rapid growth of the selected startups. Kim Dong-hwan, CEO of Hana Ventures (right), and Lee Yeon-ju, CEO of PliAuction (an art collecting platform for the MZ generation), who won the grand prize, are posing for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Hana Financial Group announced on the 17th that its venture capital subsidiary, Hana Ventures, held the '4th Early Startup Competition.'

The 'Early Startup Competition' is an investment contest hosted by Hana Ventures to discover promising early startups and support the rapid growth of the selected startups. This is the fourth event since the first competition was held in July last year.

This competition targeted early startups in the business preparation stage or within three years of establishment, with participants from various fields such as content, kids, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, pets, and art. Hana Ventures' judges selected the final three companies through written and face-to-face evaluations focusing on business models, team capabilities, and differentiated technologies.

After presentations and Q&A sessions, Hana Ventures selected and awarded three startups: ▲Grand Prize to Plioktion (an art collecting platform for the MZ generation), ▲Excellence Award to Kibasic (life cycle-customized pet health food), and ▲Merit Award to Parasta Entertainment (an entertainment company specializing in discovering and nurturing disabled stars).

Additionally, Hana Ventures delivered investment agreements totaling 3.4 billion KRW to nine startups, including the three award-winning startups, and plans to support their investment and sustainable growth going forward.

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