First Hongneung Venture Studio Matching Day offers end-to-end support, from research institute company formation to hands-on consulting
The Hongneung Special R&D Zone is offering up to 150 million won in funding for technology-led startups that pair professional managers with outstanding public technologies from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Korea University and other institutions. The Seoul Hongneung Special R&D Zone Project Group said on the 9th that it held the first Hongneung Venture Studio Matching Day at KIST headquarters and would select three startup teams for comprehensive support, including commercialization funding and assistance in establishing research institute companies.
Hongneung Venture Studio is a technology-led startup program that brings together researchers with outstanding public technologies in the special zone and professional managers with industry experience as a single team from the earliest stage. Its key feature is that the zone becomes directly involved from the discovery of technologies and formation of teams, rather than selecting and supporting companies that have already been established.
During the first half of this year, the project group identified 20 public technologies linked to potential startups, including nine from KIST, eight from Korea University and Korea University Medical Center, and three from Kyung Hee University. It also recruited 29 professional managers specializing in management, business development, finance, investment and technology development. Since the launch ceremony in May, researchers and managers have held 28 meetings to assess the practical prospects for forming joint startup teams at the matching event. About 50 people attended, including officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Korea Innovation Foundation, the participating universities and investment institutions.
The event began with an introduction to the program and included an appointment ceremony for the professional managers as official partners, a lecture on successful startups, and presentations by researchers on their startup technologies and business plans. Jang Jun-yeon, vice president of KIST, said in congratulatory remarks, “For research results to move beyond the laboratory and into the market, the researcher who creates the technology and the manager who designs the business must work together. KIST will go beyond providing technology and offer full support through company formation and subsequent growth,” he said.
The project group will select three final teams based on the matching results. The selected teams will receive support to refine their business models in October, design their equity structures and capitalization in November, and obtain hands-on consulting in personnel, accounting and legal affairs in December. They will then receive funding and be connected with investment institutions. Ahead of the second phase of specialized development, the Seoul Hongneung Special R&D Zone is upgrading a full-cycle startup ecosystem through six core programs, including Venture Studio, spanning technology discovery to overseas expansion.
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