80 teams that passed the preliminary rounds of the Startup League and Innovation League participated
The Startup League Final Pitching and Investment Convention events were also held.

Challenge! K-Startup 2017, which began last March, has concluded its five-month-long institutional and regional preliminary rounds, and starting this September, the finals and championship will begin with 100 promising startup teams participating.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Startup Promotion Agency held a launching ceremony at Gonjiam Resort on the 29th and 30th to reaffirm their determination to perform well in the finals.

This launch ceremony featured a variety of events, including the Startup League final pitching and an investment convention for teams that passed the preliminary rounds of the Startup League and Innovation League, along with networking sessions for startups and investors to interact.

First, the Startup League Final Pitching held on the 29th was conducted in a format where the top 16 teams out of the 40 teams in the Startup League Integrated Competition selected the final outstanding entrepreneurs through a 3-minute presentation and 3-minute Q&A session with an IR evaluation committee consisting of 5 members.

Everspin CEO Ha Young-bin won the Korea Startup Promotion Agency President's Grand Prize for showcasing the 'world's first dynamic-based security platform,' and Monster Studio CEO Jung Ji-hwan won the Korea Small Business Promotion Agency Chairman's Grand Prize for the 'animation Bread Barbershop.'

In addition, Kim Kang-an, CEO of Creator Co., Ltd., received the Angel Investment Association President's Grand Prize for the 'Cross-marketing platform utilizing user behavior analysis algorithms,' and Oh Sang-hoon, CEO of Luxrobo, 'anyone meetsThey won the Korea Health Industry Development Institute President's Grand Prize with 'MODI,' a DIY modular robotics platform, and each received a prize of 12 million won.

The investment convention held on the same day provided a venue for startup teams (80 teams) to meet with VCs and created an investment network, thereby providing venture investment opportunities.

Twenty VCs, including Ever Partners CEO Lim Jong-chun, participated in an enthusiastic investment presentation and pre-matching event, and some founders and investors signed agreements for future meetings, while advice on improving the item and marketing was also shared.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has separately published and distributed IR guidebooks on-site for 80 teams in the Startup & Innovation League, and plans to distribute them intensively to investment institutions in the future.

On this day, CEO Cha Hyung-jun of Nature Glutech, who won second place last year, and CEO Kim Jong-yun of Obitz Korea, who won third place, also gave lectures on 'last year's experiences and startup know-how for growing as an entrepreneur.'

The finals of Challenge! K-Startup 2017 will begin on the 2nd of next month, and the final winner will be determined through the King of Kings competition, a ranking match for the final 10 teams, on November 4. The VIP Award (1 team, 200 million won), Prime Minister's Award (1 team, 100 million won), and Minister's Award (8 teams, 30 million won each) will be presented at the Venture Startup Fair on November 30, 2017.

The preliminary rounds of each ministry, including the Startup League, and the Challenge! K-Startup 2017 event are scheduled to be broadcast on KBS 1TV over a total of seven episodes starting October 22.