POSCO Supporting the Venture Ecosystem... Hosting the 24th Idea Marketplace

On the 22nd, a total of 8 venture companies participated in an investment briefing (IR) and more
Investment ranging from 100 million to 500 million won in 4 selected venture companies

Poster of the 24th POSCO Idea Marketplace. Photo by POSCO

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] On the 22nd, POSCO held the 24th ‘POSCO Idea Market Place (IMP)’ at the POSCO Center, leading efforts to strengthen the venture ecosystem by supporting the entire business process from discovering venture companies to investment.

The IMP event held that day was attended by about 100 people, including Kim Hak-dong, Vice Chairman of POSCO, Kim Yong-moon, President of the Korea Startup Promotion Agency, Ko Young-ha, Chairman of the Korea Angel Investment Association, Park Dae-jun, CEO of Coupang, representatives from investment firms and startup-related organizations, venture company CEOs, and POSCO Group executives and employees.

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, delivered a video congratulatory message, saying, "The POSCO Group supports optimal incubating infrastructure throughout the entire process of discovering and nurturing venture companies," and added, "Just as POSCO grew from a steel wasteland into a global steel company, I hope that many more venture companies will emerge through the Idea Market Place and grow into global unicorns."

In his welcoming remarks, Vice Chairman Kim Hak-dong stated, "The POSCO Idea Market Place has played a foundational role in the growth of venture companies, and going forward, we will further expand partnerships with capable venture companies to discover future new businesses for the POSCO Group, such as secondary battery materials and hydrogen," and added, "We want venture companies to dream big and bold dreams, and POSCO will help, support, and stand with them until those dreams come true."

At the event, four venture companies selected from the bio and IT sectors?'Nearbrain', 'Shopper House', 'Oncoin', and '1inch'?as well as eight venture companies including 'Spebio', 'Neptune Cloud', 'HM Square', and 'Byeolddareugaja', which successfully completed the IMP process and are pursuing additional investment, set up exhibition booths and held investor relations (IR) presentations.

Selected venture companies receive investments ranging from 100 million to up to 500 million KRW. The Seoul Startup Promotion Agency also provides 10 million KRW in commercialization funds. Additionally, POSCO offers tailored incubation at each growth stage, including eligibility to move into Changeup Ground, an incubating space operated by POSCO for nurturing venture companies, business support such as product development and market expansion, and connections to follow-up investments through the POSCO Venture Fund and the TIPS program. TIPS refers to the 'Tech Incubator Program for Startup' operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support early-stage startups through private investment-led technology entrepreneurship support.

The POSCO Idea Market Place is the first startup discovery and nurturing program by a domestic large corporation, selecting 420 excellent venture companies and investing 23.4 billion KRW in 142 companies from 2011 to this year. Among them, about 61 companies were linked to the TIPS program to ensure continuous investment support.

Notably, in August, two companies discovered and nurtured through POSCO IMP, 'AI4Pet' and 'Payhere', were selected as one of Forbes Asia’s Top 100 Promising Startups, raising expectations for their growth into global unicorn companies.

Meanwhile, in addition to the investor relations presentations, various startup support programs were held, including a lecture by Park Dae-jun, CEO of Coupang and a role model for venture companies, and a networking session where domestic and international major investors such as venture capitalists could interact, receiving great responses from attendees.

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