Teams supported by the Crimson Start-up Support Foundation receive awards.

AEOL and SOVS gain attention at open public competitions.

Individuals trained through mentoring and other supporting programs of Korea University’s Crimson Start-up Support Foundation were the bearers of good news.

At the 1st Research Industry New Service Idea Competition hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the grand prize was awarded to Jaehyun Baek and his team, AEOL.

As students of Korea University who majored in Mechanical Engineering at the General Graduate School, the team members had been conducting research on indoor air conditioning systems when they decided to start a business and finally managed to develop an IoT converged integrated air management system.

The Research Industry New Service Idea Competition is a program aimed at creating a gradual and customized support system to provide comprehensive support, starting from hunting new service ideas on the research industry to assisting business startup based on the business model. Once teams are selected and companies are founded, they are qualified for further opportunities such as winning the Minister Prize from the Ministry of Science and ICT, expanding the business to overseas markets, and attracting investments. As a reward for winning the grand prize in the competition, AEOL received KRW 3 million.

Another piece of good news came from representatives Jo-eun Park and Su-young Soh of SOVS who won the special prize at the 3rd annual event called Challenge! K-Startup.

Challenge! K-Startup is the largest startup contest in Korea, and is co-hosted by four ministries: Ministry of Education, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of Science and ICT, and Ministry of National Defense. At the contest, SOVS presented an app for portrait photography one-stop solutions and received KRW 20 million as a reward for the special prize awarded by the Minister of Science and ICT.

The preliminary round had taken place at each ministry from July to early September, and 10 teams were selected for the final that lasted three months. Now, the app developed by SOVS is very popular and it ranks top on paid apps’ list in 17 countries.

AEOL and SOVS have something in common: Both teams have taken campus CEO courses offered by KU’s Crimson Start-up Support Foundation. As for SOVS, the team was created while taking the Campus CEO practical course, and moreover, the prize-winning item was developed in this course as well.

KU’s Campus CEO Course is a part of Seoul Metropolitan Government’s project to offer theories and practices to undergraduate/graduate students in order to promote young businessmen and support startups in expanding their bases and strengthen their capabilities.

KU’s Crimson Start-up Support Foundation helps the students to turn ideas into reality. It offers systematic incubating programs to outstanding teams and initial expenses for those who complete the course. The foundation is also connected with startups contests to support them select and award qualified teams. Moreover, it provides mentoring services for students who need guidance and various support on business startup.