Smilegate Orange Planet Supports Startups with Sungkyunkwan University

by Lee Seungjin

Published 10 Apr.2023 08:40(KST)

From the left, Kim Kyunghwan, Director of the Startup Support Group at Sungkyunkwan University, Seo Sangbong, Center Director of Orange Planet, and Choi Jaebung, Vice President of Sungkyunkwan University, are taking a commemorative photo.

Orange Planet Foundation announced on the 10th that it has signed a startup support business agreement (MOU) with Sungkyunkwan University.

Through this business agreement, both organizations will cooperate to exchange human and material resources, discover and nurture startup companies, and activate investment infrastructure. Specifically, they plan to ▲discover and nurture promising regional and youth startup teams and connect them with investment ▲collaborate on specialized accelerating programs in each organization's fields ▲work together to promote startup exchanges and spread startup culture to foster the startup ecosystem.

Orange Planet is a nonprofit independent startup foundation under Smilegate Group that has been dedicated to discovering and nurturing excellent startups for over 10 years. In particular, it operates customized growth support programs for each startup stage, such as Orange Park, Orange Garden, Orange Farm, Orange Valley, and Orange Port. As of the end of December 2022, the cumulative corporate value of Orange Planet alumni companies exceeded 2.6 trillion KRW, a 40% increase compared to the previous year.

The Startup Support Group of Sungkyunkwan University was finally selected in March this year as the lead institution for the 2023 Startup-Centered University project hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Accordingly, the Startup Support Group of Sungkyunkwan University has been granted the qualification as the lead institution to support the commercialization of startups at various growth stages for up to five years. During the project period, it will receive a total of approximately 37.5 billion KRW in commercialization funds and startup program operating expenses. Based on this, Sungkyunkwan University plans to create 9,500 jobs and achieve 2 trillion KRW in sales and 4.25 trillion KRW in corporate value by supporting the commercialization of about 425 startups over the next five years.

Seo Sang-bong, Center Director of Orange Planet, said, “Orange Planet has continuously strived to foster the startup ecosystem by operating customized support programs for all stages of startups. The know-how and experience gained in this process are among Orange Planet’s greatest assets.” He added, “We will closely cooperate with Sungkyunkwan University, which was recognized for its accumulated startup capabilities in the region and selected as a startup-centered university, to contribute to the expansion of the startup ecosystem tailored to the local situation.”