Chonnam National University and GIST Accelerate Metropolitan Market Entry for Regional Tech Startups

GSS Investment IR Demo Day Successfully Held in Seoul
15 Institutions Participate, Including TIPS Operators

Chonnam National University and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology held the 'GSS (Gwangju Startup Springboard) Investment IR Demo Day' in Seoul, connecting advanced technology startup companies discovered in local research labs with the metropolitan investment ecosystem. Photo by Chonnam National University

Chonnam National University and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced on December 10 that they held the 'GSS (Gwangju Startup Springboard) Investment IR Demo Day' in Seoul, connecting advanced technology startup companies discovered in local research labs with the metropolitan investment ecosystem and officially accelerating the entry of regional public technologies into the national market.

The Laboratory-Based Startup Leading University Project Group, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Education, jointly held this demo day with GIST at Kensington Hotel Yeouido in Seoul on December 5. The event was designed to directly connect promising technology startups nurtured in the laboratories of Chonnam National University and GIST with venture investors in the metropolitan area through real-world investment pitching (IR). The main goals were to advance business models (BM), strengthen market competitiveness, and promote scaling up.

Nine startup companies spun off from the two universities' research labs participated in this demo day, showcasing a variety of deep tech innovations, including: ▲ AIoT-based intelligent driver condition management ▲ Microbial electrochemical-based wastewater treatment ▲ AI dental diagnostics ▲ Next-generation mitochondria-targeted anticancer drugs ▲ Low-cost X-ray scintillation Geiger detectors ▲ XAI-based new drug development platforms ▲ AI numerical modeling-based air prediction ▲ Image-based automated store inventory management ▲ Multichannel paper sensor early diagnostics. Through this, it was confirmed that the research lab technologies from both universities have high scalability in the actual startup and commercialization stages.

In addition, a total of 15 investment institutions, including VC, AC, technology holding companies, and CVC, attended and actively engaged in technology validation and follow-up investment discussions. In particular, four TIPS operating companies-OpenKnoll, Bluepoint Partners, Centix Ventures, and Xquared-participated and showed great interest in the growth potential and technological competitiveness of lab-based startups. Immediately after the event, one-on-one technology reviews, follow-up meetings, and investment consultations took place, raising expectations for tangible entry of early-stage startups into the investment market.

Lee Yoonseong, head of the Laboratory-Based Startup Leading University Project Group at Chonnam National University, stated, "The GSS Investment IR Demo Day serves as a key bridge connecting the excellent technologies of Chonnam National University and GIST with the metropolitan investment ecosystem. We will systematically strengthen the commercialization capabilities of lab-based startups and actively support their scaling up by closely linking investment attraction, technology validation, and industry-academia cooperation."

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