The 'GSAT 2024 Startup Convergence League' competition, held by the Gyeongnam Changwon Gangso Research and Development Special Zone (Gangso Special Zone) to revitalize the local startup ecosystem, has been successfully concluded.

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute announced that the final round of the 'GSAT Startup Convergence League' was held at the Changwon Convention Center (CECO) for two days from Monday, April 1 to Tuesday, April 2, and that an awards ceremony was held on the evening of Wednesday, the 3rd.

The 'Startup Convergence League', held for the first time this year, is a type of competition where startups (including prospective startups) with less than 10 years of experience introduce and present their business items, and the rankings are determined through expert evaluation.

In January, 206 startup teams applied for the preliminary league through application recruitment, and only 20 teams qualified to advance to the main league through business plan verification and presentation evaluation.

The teams that advanced to the finals had a pre-training session to improve their business items through various programs provided by the Changwon Gangso Special Zone in Gyeongnam during the month of March, such as the ‘Idea Hackathon’, ‘IR Pitching Consulting’, and ‘Meet-up with Investment Agency Experts’.

The Gyeongnam Governor's Award (Grand Prize) was awarded to 'Stemden (CEO Jang Il-ho))' was listed as a start-up item for 'Oral Tissue Regeneration Innovative New Drug'.

In addition to the high level of technology related to improving dentin using stem cells, the team composition required for market entry was highly evaluated. The prize money of 20 million won was awarded.

△The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute President’s Award (Excellence Award) went to ‘Elect (CEO Choi In-gyu)’s ‘Electric Excavator Development/Production and Rental Business Item’ △The Gyeongnam Creative Economy Innovation Center Award (Excellence Award) went to ‘LABSD Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Yun-seung)’s ‘Developing Country-Type Eye Health Promotion Solution Using Used Smartphones (EYELIKE Platform)’ △The Gyeongnam Culture and Arts Promotion Agency President’s Award (Excellence Award) went to ‘SM Planet (CEO Cho Hyeon-seon)’s ‘Easy AI-Type Content Platform for the Visually Impaired and Digitally Vulnerable.’ The prize money for the Excellence Award is 10 million won.

Although they did not receive any awards, the remaining 16 teams were also awarded a bonus of 1 million won. The 20 companies that made it to the finals this time will receive support from the Changwon Gangso Special Zone in Gyeongnam even after the competition, and will receive various benefits such as linkages with related organizations' startup projects and securing investment opportunities.

Kim Nam-gyun, President of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), said, “This event, held in conjunction with GSAT, Gyeongnam Province’s global convergence startup festival, was a valuable opportunity to discover promising manufacturing and non-manufacturing startups across the country.” He added, “We will continue our efforts to provide continuous support, such as utilizing the domestic and international infrastructure of the Gyeongsang Special Zone to support product development and investment attraction for league participating teams and to promote the relocation of technology-specialized companies to Changwon.”

Meanwhile, the Gangso Special Zone is a system that designates and fosters small, high-density concentrated spaces as R&D special zones centered on key regional technology core institutions. The Gyeongnam Changwon Gangso Special Zone, designated in 2019, is striving for the development of local industries by promoting various projects such as technology discovery and linkage, technology transfer commercialization, fostering Gangso-type technology startups, and supporting specialized growth of companies related to the specialized field of 'intelligent electric-based machine fusion'.