Strengthening business cooperation through rapid on-site decision-making and active promotion of joint projects
Support for domestic and international market expansion by leveraging KT Group's distribution channels and connecting with global partners

KT announced that it has completed the '3 Major Strategies for Startup Business Support,' which focuses on supporting startups in the three areas where they face the most difficulties.
The areas supported by KT include expanding direct investment in nurtured companies, business cooperation agreements between KT and the nurtured companies, and opening up domestic and international sales channels for the nurtured companies by leveraging KT's capabilities.

First, KT decided to invest 3 billion won in equity in the nurtured company 'Toonid'. Toonid, a company specializing in webtoons and professional production, will further strengthen its business partnership with KT through this investment and play a role in enhancing the competitiveness of KT's webtoon business by supplying high-quality webtoon content to KT Olleh Market.
KT plans to continue pursuing equity investments and business partnerships with promising startups, while also creating an additional joint startup investment fund worth 20 billion won together with Gyeonggi Province.



In addition, to facilitate rapid business cooperation with fostered companies, we are operating a 'speed dating' system where CEOs and executives make immediate decisions on-site, and based on this, we have pursued joint projects with three companies to date.
KT Wiz signed a contract for VR real-time broadcasting services with Mover, a VR filming remote control technology company; Science Farm, a developer of IoT plant cultivators, agreed to sign a contract for the supply and after-sales service of next-generation nutrient solution systems; and Geo IT, a developer of health bikes, signed a contract to purchase Z-BIKE products and install them at major KT branches and agencies nationwide.

Mover CEO Kim Yoon-jung said, “VR cameras were primarily limited to content production such as music videos, but combining them with KT’s network technology and infrastructure provided an opportunity to confirm their potential as broadcasting equipment for delivering real-time content, leading to the discovery of new business opportunities.”

Meanwhile, KT is establishing and operating 'K-Champ Centers' by remodeling its office buildings located in major regions nationwide to expand its pool of companies for business cooperation. This space is dedicated to Post-BI (Post-Business Incubation) for the full-scale commercialization of companies that have completed their first round of incubation, and there are plans to expand its establishment nationwide starting in the second half of this year. As it will be possible to foster and support a total of over 120 companies, the potential and scale of such business cooperation are expected to grow even further.

Finally, to help the nurtured companies expand their domestic and international sales channels, we plan to provide opportunities to sell products through K Shopping, the T-commerce arm of the group company KTH, not only on IPTV such as Olleh TV but also on mobile and internet distribution channels. We will also support their entry into global markets by collaborating with China's Baidu Future Store and Japan's SoftBank Selection to distribute products overseas. Additionally, we will support sales within the group through KT Commerce and provide infrastructure that is difficult for startups to acquire, such as quality testing through KT Commerce's in-house quality R&D center, a 300-pyeong logistics center, and a 30-person call center.
In addition, KT plans to utilize the Pangyo Startup Campus to provide opportunities for global promotion, export, and investment attraction through the permanent exhibition of excellent products from innovation centers nationwide, and to use it as a base for attracting overseas investment and discovering promising startups by housing overseas VCs and accelerators in the Global Bootcamp.

Meanwhile, KT is actively purchasing early-stage products from nurtured companies, such as installing 'UaSafe' ultra-low light CCTV cameras in major national offices, implementing 'Irience' iris recognition solutions as access systems for major facilities in the Hyehwa and Guro branches, purchasing 'Haebora' headsets to distribute to field workers, and purchasing 200 'GeoIT' exercise bikes to place in dealerships nationwide. This is intended to help fostered companies expand their sales channels by providing them with product sales performance data.

Kim Young-myung, Head of KT’s Creative Economy Promotion Team, stated, “Cooperation with companies nurtured by the Gyeonggi Center is revitalizing KT’s future business, and KT is focusing its efforts on providing the funding and support for domestic and international market expansion that these companies need most through strategic investments and speed dating.” He added, “Together with the Gyeonggi Center, KT will continuously create win-win success stories to help strengthen the capabilities of venture SMEs and ultimately help them grow into ‘K-Champs,’ which are strong companies competitive in the global market.”