Gangnam District and The Invention Lab Set Out to Find Promising Startups to Drive Future Industries

Targeting companies under 7 years old in six areas, including AI, bio and fintech... Customized, full-cycle support from PoC collaboration to raising investment

Gangnam District (Mayor Cho Seong-myeong) is teaming up with the early-stage startup investment firm The Invention Lab (CEO Kim Jin-young) to launch in earnest the 'Future Industry-Based Company Activation Support Program' to discover and nurture promising startups in the district.

This support program was designed to help startups based in Gangnam District that have outstanding technical capabilities and competencies grow in future core industry areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, healthcare and bio, and finance and fintech. The recruitment areas comprise a total of six categories, including the three leading fields mentioned above: cloud and AX, robots and mobility, and ICT convergence.

Applicants must be either prospective entrepreneurs as of the announcement date or companies within seven years of founding that have their headquarters, branch offices, or research institutes located in Gangnam District. The program plans to select the final eight companies through a document review and in-person evaluation, with the recruitment period running from May 26 to June 19.

The finally selected companies will receive an end-to-end, performance-to-traction type acceleration program tailored to their corporate growth stages. The selected firms will be given opportunities to hold meetings that link with practical business verification (PoC) in coordination with partner companies that include large enterprises and mid-sized firms from a range of industry sectors such as finance, construction, logistics, food, and beauty.

In addition, customized follow-on support will be provided, including The Invention Lab’s selective investment review, linking to its global network, and field-specific expert mentoring. In particular, if a company is selected as an excellent company, it will also receive a separate commercialization support grant. Firms hoping to participate in the program can check the detailed information and apply through The Invention Lab’s official website or the program recruitment page.