Gwangju Creative Economy Innovation Center Holds 1st Regular Board Meeting

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Gwangju Center for Creative Economy and Innovation announced on the 28th that it held the first regular board meeting of 2022 at an AI startup camp located in Seo-gu, attended by the chairman, ex officio directors, and appointed directors.

At this regular board meeting, major agenda items included the Gwangju Center for Creative Economy and Innovation's 2021 business performance, 2022 business plans, and early startup investment plans. In-depth discussions were held regarding the center's achievements to date and future development directions.

Last year, through various startup support projects, the Gwangju Center for Creative Economy and Innovation discovered and nurtured 69 new startup companies. Through the 'Investment OASIS Platform,' companies incubated by the center attracted a total investment of 41.9 billion KRW. The center also reported to the board that its incubated companies hired 502 new employees and achieved sales of approximately 70 billion KRW.

This year, the center plans to support startups with a total of 15 programs categorized by company size, including Build-Up, Start-up, and Scale-Up. Additionally, newly discovered projects such as the ▲Gwangju Metropolitan City Startup Membership Center ▲Gwangju Citizens' Hall Youth Startup Support Project ▲Region-led Youth Job Project will strengthen the center's role as a regional startup hub.

Furthermore, Hyundai Motor Group, the dedicated company, will invest in about 30 early startups starting this year through a donation of 1 billion KRW, 5 billion KRW from the Honam Angel Investment Hub Individual Investment Association, and approximately 800 million KRW from the 2nd and 3rd G-IN Angel Investment Associations.

Center Director Ha Sang-yong stated, “It is continuously necessary to create opportunities for the performance achievements of companies incubated by the center,” and added, “This year, the center will serve as a core entity moving forward in a direction consistent with its initial founding purpose, not only in startup support projects but also in investment and overseas market entry, in cooperation with local governments, the government, and companies.”

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