Design Support for Social Enterprises Leads to Clear Results in Collaboration and Investment with Large Corporations

Design Promotion Institute to Host 'Social Design Day' on the 7th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Korea Institute of Design Promotion will hold "Social Design Day" on the 7th to share the achievements of the "Social Enterprise Design Project" and support social economy organizations in attracting investment.

Since its launch in 2019, the Social Enterprise Design Project has supported social economy organizations by providing △design consulting △personnel △service and business model development, and has helped expand business outcomes through accelerating, attracting investment, crowdfunding, and exhibitions.

A total of 186 social economy organizations, including 52 selected this year, have benefited from the support.

Held at the Myeongdong Community House Masil and OnDream Society in Seoul, this event is an opportunity to share innovation stories of social economy organizations through design. It includes sharing and exhibiting the achievements of companies participating in the Social Enterprise Design Project, demo days, and investment consultations.

Representative participating companies include Anakia, a company developing recycled leather safety shoes; Prag, a manufacturing company recycling waste plastic; and Liverabbit, which has expanded the living range of transportation-vulnerable groups.

The Social Enterprise Design Project has also shown results. It has promoted various projects such as joint product development and resource circulation system establishment in cooperation with large corporations actively practicing ESG management, including SK General Chemical and Hyundai Oilbank.

Additionally, a demo day was held inviting investors and distributors such as Daesung Venture Investment, Nice Investment Partners, and Wadiz, resulting in approximately 7.2 billion KRW in investment attraction and sales contracts.

It has succeeded in entering overseas markets, winning the CES Innovation Award in the United States, achieving 1272% of the crowdfunding target amount in Japan, and entering online malls such as Musinsa and W Concept.

Yoon Sang-heum, President of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, stated, "We will strive to help companies that prioritize social value as their top mission discover market and customer needs through design, derive optimal solutions, and achieve sustainable business."

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