LG Uplus Holds 'B2B New Business Idea Contest' to Support Small and Medium Enterprises

LG Uplus employees introducing the '2nd B2B New Business Idea Contest'. Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced on the 2nd that it will hold the "2nd B2B New Business Idea Contest" for small and medium-sized businesses until the 16th.

The B2B New Business Idea Contest is a program designed to discover new business ideas such as B2B-oriented devices or solutions. It is an activity of "U+IoT Partners," launched by LG Uplus in 2021 to support small and medium-sized Internet of Things (IoT) businesses.

LG Uplus plans to continuously establish a foundation for mutual growth by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with promising ideas, while simultaneously discovering new businesses to strengthen competitiveness in the business-to-business (B2B) market. Accordingly, while the 1st contest held last November was limited to the "wireless mobile communication" field, this year the contest categories have been greatly expanded to all B2B businesses utilizing wired and wireless communication.

The expanded contest categories are ▲ "Wireless" such as Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication ▲ "New Business" including robots, metaverse, smart factory, smart mobility, digital twin, smart farm ▲ "Big Data" such as data collection programs and analysis software ▲ "Solutions" including work automation and non-face-to-face technologies ▲ "Wired" such as AI Contact Center (AICC) and quantum cryptography, totaling five categories.

LG Uplus will conduct a thorough evaluation based on various criteria such as business feasibility, practicality, and creativity, and plans to select seven companies by the end of October this year. Awarded companies will receive up to 50 million KRW in development funds, equipment, test spaces, and other support to actively help commercialize their ideas.

Companies wishing to participate can submit a proposal by email by the 16th, including the planning background, customer analysis, service scenario, business model, and business goals on their desired topic. More detailed information can be found on the U+IoT Partners website.

Choi Taek-jin, Vice President and Head of LG Uplus Enterprise Division, said, "We regularly hold contests to strengthen partnerships and coexistence with small and medium-sized partners who will become 'true fans' together with LG Uplus," adding, "We will actively support partners so that their products and solutions can be commercialized and established in the market."

Meanwhile, through the 1st contest, LG Uplus selected four companies: Story4U (smart safety hook to prevent falls at construction sites), EyesVision (LTE modem dedicated to home appliances), WizardLab (large vehicle tire air pressure monitoring device), and C&SLINK (AI-based contactless door passage solution), and signed business agreements in March this year. Currently, with LG Uplus's support, these four companies are developing products aiming to launch services as early as the second half of the year.

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