'Coexistence' Between Large Corporations and Startups That Faced 'Technology Disputes'

Algocare-Lotte Healthcare
Joining Forces for Win-Win Cooperation Between Large and Small-Medium Enterprises

Following the resolution of the dispute between a startup and a large corporation over a 'technology theft controversy,' the two parties have agreed to establish a fund to promote mutual growth. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) announced on the 28th that Algocare and Lotte Healthcare jointly contributed 300 million KRW to a win-win cooperation fund for the mutual growth of large and small-medium enterprises.

At the fund contribution ceremony held at the Win-Win Growth Committee on the same day, representatives from both companies, Han Mu-kyung, a member of the People Power Party who mediated the cooperation agreement between the companies, and Kim Young-hwan, Secretary General of the Foundation for Large, Small, and Medium Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation, which manages the fund, attended.

On the 28th, attendees are taking a commemorative photo at the "Large Corporation and Startup Win-Win and Mutual Growth Fund Donation Ceremony" held at the Dongbanseongjang Committee in Jung-gu, Seoul. (From left: Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Lee Hoon-ki, CEO of Lotte Healthcare; Kim Young-hwan, Secretary General of the Foundation for Large, Small, and Medium Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation; Jung Ji-won, CEO of Algocare; Han Mu-kyung, Member of the National Assembly)

Algocare and Lotte Healthcare experienced conflict earlier this year over a technology theft controversy related to the 'personalized nutrition management dispenser.' Algocare raised suspicions of technology theft after Lotte Healthcare launched a product similar to its own at CES 2023. The six-month-long dispute was resolved through mediation of SME technology disputes. The mediation agreement included Lotte Healthcare withdrawing from the nutritional supplement dispenser business, mutual cooperation and efforts for coexistence, and a ban on futile defamation.

Additionally, last month, at the 'Measures to Eradicate Technology Theft in SMEs' meeting between the ruling and opposition parties, both sides agreed to jointly contribute to a win-win cooperation fund as a symbol of mutual cooperation and the co-growth of large corporations and startups. This joint contribution of a win-win cooperation fund by large and small-medium enterprises is the first case since the Foundation for Large, Small, and Medium Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation began establishing such funds in 2011. The contributed fund will be widely used to enhance the competitiveness of many SMEs through win-win smart factories, joint investment-type research and development (R&D), market expansion, productivity improvement, and more.

Minister Lee Young said, "I hope that the win-win cooperation fund contributed by the two companies will serve as a foundation to spread the warmth of cooperation between large and small-medium enterprises, and we will ensure that the fund is executed effectively."

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