Daegu City Selects 4 Star Companies: Yusol, ST, Optimus System, and Hanguk Gobunja

Selected 8 Pre-Star Companies

"Active Support for Promising SMEs"

Daegu City and Daegu Technopark announced on the 9th that they have newly selected 4 companies as new Star Companies and 8 companies as Pre-Star Companies in 2023, recognized as promising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will lead regional economic growth and future new industries.

Since 2007, the 'Star Company 100 Development Project' has been Daegu City's representative enterprise development program that supports SMEs with technological innovation capabilities and competitiveness at each growth stage to nurture them into global strong small and medium enterprises.

Daegu-si Dongin Government Building

Through this systematic enterprise development program, 11 companies including Dentis Co., Ltd. and Daesung Hightech Co., Ltd. have been listed on the IPO, and this year, 10 companies such as Geumyong Machinery Co., Ltd. and Megagen Implant Co., Ltd., which are graduating from the Star Company program, have been promoted to mid-sized enterprises. Most Star Companies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the Star Company development policy by recording approximately 8% higher sales compared to non-selected companies from two years after selection.

To recruit new Star Companies this year, a public contest was held in June targeting SMEs located in the region. Fourteen companies applied for Star Company status, and 50 companies applied for Pre-Star Company status, resulting in a competition ratio of 2.8:1 for Star Companies and 5:1 for Pre-Star Companies.

Among these 64 applicant companies, after a rigorous three-month evaluation process including document review, presentation evaluation, on-site visits, and final evaluation by a comprehensive evaluation committee composed of experts, 12 companies were finally selected considering growth potential, technological capability, ESG management, and the ripple effects on the local community and regional companies.

The 4 newly selected Star Companies include Optimus System Co., Ltd. and Yusol Co., Ltd. in the ABB (AI, Big Data, Blockchain) industry sector, one of Daegu City's five future industries, STM Co., Ltd. in the future mobility sector, and Korea Polymer Co., Ltd. in the advanced materials sector. As of 2022, their average sales reached 19.2 billion KRW, and the average number of employees was 77.

The 8 newly selected Pre-Star Companies had an average sales of 4.5 billion KRW and an average of 28 employees as of 2022. By industry sector, 5 companies (63% of selected companies) belong to future industries (2 ABB, 1 robotics, 1 UAM, 1 healthcare), and 3 companies (37% of selected companies) belong to core industries (3 urban-type industries), securing driving forces to lead Daegu's future new industries.

The 8 Pre-Star Companies are SimpleStick Co., Ltd., FM Works Co., Ltd., JS System Co., Ltd., Korea Park Golf Co., Ltd., Hallim Technology Co., Ltd., Hongdudang Co., Ltd., UND Co., Ltd., and I'm System Co., Ltd.

Among them, I'm System Co., Ltd. and UND Co., Ltd., which have secured outstanding technological capabilities in micro-robot systems, will receive focused support through the 'Daegu-type Unicorn' track for unicorn companies with excellent technology and high growth potential.

Accordingly, the total number of Star Companies in the Daegu region has increased to 101, and Pre-Star Companies to 148. Selected companies can receive one-stop support services from 23 participating development institutions, including growth strategy and IPO consulting, technical and management doctors to solve technical difficulties, customized package support, in-depth ESG management consulting, full-cycle business restructuring support, and R&D planning support, and are expected to grow into globally competitive companies.

Hong Jun-pyo, Mayor of Daegu City, said, “I hope that the newly selected Star Companies this year will lead industrial structure innovation and the region’s future economy based on their outstanding technological capabilities and growth potential, and furthermore, we will spare no effort to actively support their growth into leading companies with world-class competitiveness.”

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