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Eight startup teams supported by KU proudly spread their wings

Writer : KU TODAY
Hits : 1234
Date : 2019-08-16

KU Start Up
2019 Spring CHOO CHOO Day
Eight startup teams supported by KU proudly spread their wings

The “2019 Spring CHOO CHOO Day”, which was hosted by the Korea University Business School (KUBS) and organized by the Startup Institute, was held at the LG-POSCO Building’s SUPEX Hall on May 10th. CHOO CHOO Day is an event where young entrepreneurs who moved into the Startup Institute on the second floor of the KUBS Main Building present their products and services. About 300 people including investors, industry insiders, and prospective entrepreneurs attended the event, showing their keen interest.

Jin Han Ree, Executive Vice President for Research who attended the event said, “One of the most important areas I look for as VP of KU is on-campus startup building. I would like to thank many members of the school and the business sector for attending this event despite their busy schedules.” The following eight startups participated in the event: “Boldbox Inc.” that produces a global men’s cosmetics brand targeting foreign markets; “Enjoying Lions” that produces Slodka, a DIY cocktail kit; “Tickle”, an online platform that automatically saves and invests change when users pay with a linked card; “Stipop Inc.”, an emoticon platform that enables foreign users to use emoticons on a variety of apps; “dbd Lab”, a platform that tests User Experience (UX) easily; “Skylab Entertainment” that develops healing games with emotional stories; “Blimey” that produces cultural contents targeting Malaysia’s YouTube market; and “Sooho” that analyzes vulnerable points of blockchain-based apps and provides anti-money laundering services for cryptocurrency. Each company presented its achievements and vision through public presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and booth walkthroughs. The event, which began at 2 p.m., lasted until 6 p.m. and continued at individual booths set up outside the classroom after the presentations.

A sparkling gem! Pay attention to Stipop Inc.

Stipop Inc. is an emoticon platform targeting messenger users around the world. The service was launched amidst the reality that while there are more than 4 billion users of messenger services provided by Facebook, iMessage, and WhatsApp, emoticons are not actively used in such platforms. Stipop Inc.’s President Ki-ram Park explained, “I came to know that although there are many illustrators who want to publish their work as emoticons, the platforms on which they can actually sell their work are very limited. And the processes of registering emoticons on existing platforms are often complicated and take a long time. Stipop allows illustrators to enter an international market with one-time registration, and users can utilize emoticons on multiple messengers after a one-time purchase.” Its major target customers are mobile messengers, communities, and education apps without their own emoticon service. The plan is to license them with the right to use the platform and charge for monthly licensing fees. “Stipop has already collected Spanish and Portuguese emoticons for its entrance in the South American market in the future. And we also plan to expand our business to the global character goods market using emoticon characters,” said Park.

The Startup Institute welcomes its 7th round of new family members selected through a tough competition with odds of 10 to 1

On Friday, May 31st, the Startup Institute hosted the 7th “Startup Express”, a startup competition held every semester to select startup companies to join the institute. All companies are selected through a tough competition, with the odds of 10 to 1, comprised of document review and interview screening. The Startup Institute provides operating expenses to each moving team, and offers an office at the Iljin Center for Startup Incubation and education programs at the Seung Myung-Ho Center for Entrepreneurship Education.

In addition, the institute continuously provides opportunities to exchange information with experts from startup-related agencies such as Kim & Chang, Samil PwC, Amazon Web Services, and YCrowdfunding, which have all partnered with KUBS. “The teams that are here today to give presentations are those who passed a tough competition with odds of 10 to 1. You all deserve to give yourself a round of applause,” said Shijin Yoo, Director of Seung Myung-Ho Center for Entrepreneurship Education, offering words of encouragement.

At the “2019 Startup Express Summer Season”’, ten teams selected through a preliminary review presented their business ideas. The following services were introduced by the participating teams: a pet monitoring service using chatbots and image recognition technology (Petpeo Talk); a knowledge-sharing platform based on blockchain technology (Ara Corp); a psychology-based dating service that resolves the problems of existing dating service platforms (Ulimbridge); an application to design and produce customizable diaries (DaonHaru); a service providing various means of transportation (Makta); an IoT-based startup farm service (Treeger); customized perfumes produced by visually impaired people (BliFume); an application that provides guidelines on shooting travel videos and automatic editing services (Vivido); renting, collecting, and cleaning multiple-use containers targeting food service companies (ECO DISH); and an IT-based fashion bag use and reward system (Leaders of Green Society).

The “2019 Startup Express Summer Season” was comprised of presentations and question-and-answer sessions. The judging panel assessed each business idea based on its creativity, marketability, feasibility, and level of market research and analysis. Based on the criteria, Leaders of Green Society (Grand Award), Treeger (Excellence Award), ECO DISH (SK Social Venture Award), BliFume (Business Research Society Award), Petpeo Talk (Participation Award) and Ulimbridge (Participation Award) were selected.

The six awarded teams are offered an opportunity to move into an office at the Iljin Center for Startup Incubation. Operating expenses are provided after moving in, and systematic education programs and support for startup building are offered. Moreover, the newly selected teams will be provided with continuous consultations and assistance from mentors composed of senior entrepreneurs, industry experts, and venture capitalists. They can also network with the companies already established in the Startup Institute and share their experiences with them.

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