Hyundai Motor Group - Chung Mong-Koo Foundation 'H-OnDream Startup Ground' Final Day Held

Lee Byung-hoon, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Group (5th from the left on the 2nd row), Kwon Oh-gyu, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, Jung Hyun-gon, President of the Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, Kim Moon-sil, Head of the Social Enterprise Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and other key officials pose for a commemorative photo with the selected fellows at the 'H-OnDream Startup Ground Final Day' event. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Hyundai Motor Group and the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation held the ‘H-OnDream Startup Ground Final Day’ event and shared the achievements of the past year, the 23rd announced.

Since 2012, Hyundai Motor Group and the Foundation have continuously carried out the ‘H-OnDream Startup Ground’ project, a social economy enterprise and impact startup nurturing program, for about 11 years until this year.

Since 2021, the recruitment units have been subdivided into ▲‘H-OnDream A’ track supporting market validation for startups from pre-startup to the third year of incorporation ▲‘H-OnDream B’ track supporting growth acceleration for startups with annual sales exceeding 100 million KRW ▲‘H-OnDream C’ track supporting projects to solve environmental issues in cooperation with Hyundai Motor Group.

Through the ‘H-OnDream Startup Ground’ project, Hyundai Motor Group and the Foundation have nurtured 294 startups and created 5,195 jobs as of September this year. This has contributed to youth job creation and solving social problems.

This year, after about three months of recruitment and screening from March, 28 teams of the 10th fellows were newly selected: 20 teams in Track A, 5 teams in Track B, and 3 teams in Track C. Support funds of 20 million KRW per team for Track A, 40 million KRW per team for Track B, and 50 million KRW per team for Track C were provided.

The 10th fellows achieved results over about six months after selection, including ▲sales of 6.32 billion KRW ▲investment attraction worth 4.96 billion KRW ▲creation of 79 new jobs ▲55 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and 28 contracts signed ▲33 patent applications ▲16 awards in various competitions and contests.

At the Final Day event held on the 22nd at ‘OnDream Society’ located in Myeongdong, Seoul, seven fellows with particularly outstanding achievements among the 28 fellows were selected as ‘Excellent Fellows’ and awarded. Additional support funds of 10 million KRW each were given to five excellent teams in Track A, 60 million KRW to one excellent team in Track B, and 150 million KRW to one excellent team in Track C.

In Track A, the excellent fellows selected were ‘Refilli,’ providing an eco-friendly paper pack packaging solution replacing plastic; ‘Reharvest,’ solving resource shortage and protecting the environment by reusing food byproducts through food upcycling; ‘Innersia,’ manufacturing and selling organic sanitary pads containing non-toxic natural absorbents ‘Cellatex’ as a premium feminine healthcare brand; ‘Coolbears,’ producing hybrid golf wear using only eco-friendly materials; and ‘WeMeat,’ developing plant-based meat with chicken-like texture using mushrooms, offering consumers a sustainable food experience without meat consumption.

In Track B, ‘Lightroot,’ developing functional recycled materials by recycling waste secondary battery separators and creating green impact, and in Track C, ‘Artwa,’ providing next-generation water quality monitoring solutions and services using intelligent amphibious robots, were honored with awards respectively.

The event included programs such as performance presentations by three excellent fellow representatives?Kim Hyo-i of Innersia, Shin Min-jung of Lightroot, and Kang Dong-woo of Artwa?and group networking. This helped strengthen the bonds among the selected fellows.

Kwon Oh-gyu, Chairman of the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, said in his welcoming speech, “I hope that the entrepreneurial spirit and challenging spirit of Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-Koo, the founder of the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, will be conveyed to young entrepreneurs through this project.”

Jung Hyun-gon, President of the Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, said in his congratulatory speech, “As complex social problems such as the recent climate crisis and polarization intensify, interest in social economy enterprises including social enterprises as alternatives to solve these problems is increasing,” and explained, “‘H-OnDream Startup Ground’ is attracting public attention because it is a cradle of social entrepreneurs solving social problems in innovative ways.”

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