Daejeon City-KT, Support for Startups at 'DIGICO KT Open Lab'

by Jeong Ilwoong

Published 09 May.2022 16:53(KST)

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City announced on the 9th that it is recruiting promising technology startup companies to move into the ‘DIGICO KT Open Lab’ in collaboration with KT by the end of this month.

The KT Open Lab is scheduled to open next month in Gung-dong, Yuseong-gu, featuring seven workspaces (from 4-person to 10-person rooms) across three floors, a video conference room, and a lounge cafe.

Unlike previous startup spaces, the KT Open Lab is a privately-led project, allowing resident companies to use the startup space free of charge. Additionally, they will have opportunities to participate in various startup support programs conducted by KT and to connect their businesses with KT’s commercialization efforts.

The city will also provide housing support for employees of companies moving into the KT Open Lab.

Detailed information on recruitment fields, eligibility, and the screening process for resident companies can be found on TechCare, KT’s official business idea submission channel.

Previously, since 2018, the city has been developing Startup Park, a technology startup fostering complex linked with universities and the Daedeok Research Complex in the Gung-dong area of Yuseong-gu. Following the opening of three ‘D-Bridge’ sites from 2020 to 2021, the city, in cooperation with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, opened Daejeon Tipstown on the Chungnam National University campus in April last year.

Kim Yong-du, head of the City’s Enterprise Startup Support Division, said, “The KT Open Lab is significant as the first case of a large corporation participating in the creation of Startup Park. We hope that the cooperative project with KT will become a leading model and encourage many large corporations to actively support startups in the region in the future.”