Kakao Ventures and Microsoft Korea Host AI Development Competition 'GenAI Changupthon'

Kakao Ventures announced on the 11th that it will hold the generative artificial intelligence (AI) development competition 'GenAI Startupthon' in collaboration with Microsoft Korea.

GenAI Startupthon is a competition where participants develop services and products using generative AI technology within a set period. Anyone from prospective startup teams, early-stage startups, university students, graduate students, and developers can participate. Applications are open until the 22nd.

GenAI Startupthon is a collaboration between big tech companies and venture capitalists to provide comprehensive technical support and business feasibility verification simultaneously. Participating teams will work in the Azure cloud service environment provided by Microsoft Korea. Microsoft Korea will conduct specialized prompt engineering training for using Azure and OpenAI's GPT on the 30th in advance. Even users who have not previously used Azure will be supported to engage in development through intensive training.

After the training, participating teams will develop and submit a service prototype applying generative AI over 18 days. Kakao Ventures plans to provide focused support for service implementation by verifying business models that lead to actual investment through online mentoring during the development period. The final presentation and awards ceremony will be held offline on the 18th of next month. Judging will be based on the prototypes and presentations submitted by participants, evaluating ▲originality ▲marketability ▲utilization of generative AI.

The winning and placed teams will receive startup funds worth a total of 10 million KRW, one-on-one feedback on IR materials, and priority consideration for investment. All participants will also receive Azure credits worth 200 million KRW. Applications can be submitted online through Kakao Ventures’ official social media channels.

Jang Seung-ryong, Director of Kakao Ventures, said, "With the advancement of generative AI technology, even small teams can realize their own ideas, accelerating the clock of innovation. Through GenAI Startupthon, which connects education, investment, and follow-up support, we aim to create a foundation where entrepreneurs who want to solve the world's problems can challenge themselves without hesitation and expand the base of the innovative startup ecosystem."

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