KOSME Holds ‘4th Rechallenging KOSME IR Mart’ to Attract Investments

President Kang Suk-jin of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) delivers his inaugural speech as he took office as the 10th chairman of KOSME at KOSME headquarters in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, on Sept. 1. (Photos: KOSME)

Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) held the “online 4th Rechallenging KOSME IR Mart for Attracting Investments” on Aug. 25.

The IR mart was designed to ramp up challenging startups’ investment attraction capabilities and raise support fund recipients’ success rate. Participants of the IR mart were seven promising SMEs, which have risen from past failure, and six venture capital companies.

The participating companies included Good Touch, Code Reach, Saeon, HayanMind, a mobile educational application maker, Lawction and Orville.

A poster to publicize the “online 4th Rechallenging KOSME IR Mart for Attracting Investments” which took place on Aug. 25.

The IR mart was streamed live. Each participating company was allowed to make a pitch for itself for 15 minutes, followed by a 10-minute question & answer session with venture companies.

Each company released its feedback materials and public relations fact sheets following the IR mart.

KOSME plans to take follow-up steps, such as follow-up matching support.

Kim Moon-hwan, head of the Innovation Growth Division at KOSME, said, “The event is expected to invigorate civilian investment institutions’ investments into rechallenging startups support recipient startups.”

KOSME will spearhead efforts to build a rechallenging virtual cycle ecosystem, such as provision of rechallenging startup funds, specialized education and consulting services, he added.

A team consisting of six trainees of the Year-Dream School took home the top prize in the 2023 startup competition utilizing public big data of the agro-food sector on Aug. 17.

The Year-Dream School for nurturing startup AI technology manpower is operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

KOSME Reaps Fruit from Startup AI Tech Manpower Development Program

Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) said on Aug. 17 a team consisting of six trainees of the Year-Dream School took home the top prize in the 2023 startup competition utilizing public big data of the agro-food sector.

The Year-Dream School for nurturing startup AI technology manpower is operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and KOSME.

The project allows youth, aged less than 39, wanting to land jobs and launch startups in the AI sector to undergo AI theory education and participate in venture, startup projects and AI competitions free of charge.

In particular, KOSME has made a process of supporting startups part of the regular course of the project to offer all levels of support, ranging from preparing startups to education for ramping up startup capabilities and IR sessions.

The Year-Dream School also operates specialized courses on data engineering and data scientists to nurture field, working-level manpower.

The top prize-winning team of the latest completion submitted the winning idea of a food styling service platform for merchants and small businesses, and it is preparing to launch the startup via the Year-Dream School.

Ahn Hyo-suk, a trainee and a member of the winning team, said, “A startup idea has been realized via the AI education course of the Year-Dream School, and startup mentoring has led to winning of the award.”

Ahn spoke about the successful startup with the goal of being a unicorn company.

The third-class of the Year-Dream School offers education on job and startups, such as specialized job courses and on-the-job projects from 10 months from March 2023.

The fourth class of the school starts from next January.