'BEST OF COMEUP 2022, Global Media Awards' Presented... Which Korean Startups Did the Global Media Choose?
The 'BEST OF COMEUP 2022, Global Media Awards' were selected from 70 startups that attended COMEUP 2022 by the media from USA, France, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea
LOS ANGELES, CA, November 24, 2022 -- Global media chose startups for the 'BEST OF COMEUP 2022, Global Media Awards' at COMEUP 2022, which was held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul between November 9th (Wed) and 11th (Fri.)
The startups for the awards were chosen by media outlets like AVING News (Editor-in-chief Jihoon Choi, Korea), Vietnamplus (Vo Hoang Long, Vietnam), GadgetTouch (Ayano Tominaga & Ten Ebihara, Japan), Le Café du Geek (Leo Thevenet, France), and Techcrunch (Kate Park, USA), considering the response from visitors, market potential, and the innovativeness of their technology.
The 'BEST OF COMEUP 2022, Global Media Awards' were selected from 70 startups that attended COMEUP 2022 by the media from USA, France, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea, who selected and awarded 2 media star companies through interviews and evaluation, and the related news was reported through media from Korea and overseas.
COMEUP switched to a private-led/government-supported system this year and was overhauled into an event with the startup ecosystem as the star of the show as they began their new leap forward. Selected as the organizer last March, the Korea Startup Forum (Chairman Jaewook Park, henceforth referred to as KOSPO) planned and operated COMEUP overall, and presented diverse programs that showed the comprehensive innovative capacity of the startup ecosystem with startups, investors, global companies, and experts, in addition to a total of 52 advisory committee members.
The programs of COMEUP 2022 were centered around the 4 axes of conference, startup pitching, open innovation, and global collaboration and connection, reflecting the core interests of the startup ecosystem.
At the 'BEST OF COMEUP 2022, Global Media Awards' AIRS MEDICAL was chosen by the Republic of Korea △Storelink, by the Republic of Korea Galaxy Corporation, by Japan PLANA, by Japan Metatexture, by France TeamSparta, by France AIMS, by Vietnam Flipper Corporation, by Vietnam SqueezeBits Inc., by the U.S.A and Covering, by the U.S.A, respectively.
• AIRS MEDICAL MRI Image Restoration Software… "Improving Convenience for Both Patients and Medical Personnel with Quick, High-Quality Restoration"
AIRS MEDICAL is a healthcare startup that was established in 2018 and is developing and supplying medical AI solutions for a paradigm shift in the healthcare market. Their potential was recognized, leading to them successfully attracting 25.3 billion KRW worth of investments in the Series B round in July this year, and they have accumulated a total of 33.9 billion KRW in investments so far.
The company explained that, in order to meet the expectations on the company, they will overcome limitations of existing medical services through preemptive technology development and adoption, and contribute to improving the quality of human life by realizing 'Predictable Health'.
The first solution AIRS MEDICAL introduced as a part of that goal was SwiftMR. This is an AI software that restores the conventional low-quality images obtained from accelerated imaging with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) equipment to high-quality images, which secured high clarity and credibility for their restored results through deep learning technology.
As SwiftMR is also provided as a SaaS (System-as-a-Service) through a cloud platform, it can be used immediately if the software is applied to existing MRI equipment. As such, it is characterized by its ability to be widely applied regardless of the MRI supplier or model.
In addition, as it processes images by sending it in PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine, the international standard for medical images), it guarantees the convenience of the medical staff as it doesn't impede the workflow of existing radiation work. The MRI imaging experience for patients is improved in this way, and wait times are also reduced, leading to faster diagnosis.
• Storelink Introduces their Marketing Platform, 'Storelink'… "Sales Data in Real-Time through Simple Input and Controls!"
Established in April 2020, Storelink is a company specialized for marketing solutions based on open market analysis data. They were able to secure 100,000 ecommerce business members within 2 years of establishment through their highly accurate data analysis and application, as well as their high automated platform. Following their reaching of 20 billion KRW in sales, they were also able to attract a total of 11 billion KRW in cumulative investments.
The main part of Storelink's marketing solution is in analyzing open market data and identifying how consumers search for and purchase products. Sellers are able to select and carry out various marketing options to invigorate purchasing patterns with just one click through Storelink platform's analysis data, and they are able to monitor the results in real-time.
Though conventional ecommerce marketing focuses on external advertising mediums, such as portals and social media, Storelink explained that they were able to find a quicker and easier way to improve marketing results from the analysis of over 80 open market consumer purchasing patterns. Accordingly, their platform was developed to allow ecommerce sellers to form a more effective and successful strategy.
They have since been steadily advancing their data analysis technology and marketing automation platform, and recently added an analysis and management function for overseas open markets, greatly improving their utilization. They were also able to showcase their independently developed and newly launched brand, 'Leav', in Japan and increased their sales by 1,200% in just 2 months. As a result, it was evaluated that their overseas open market service was successfully established.
The company said that they will lead innovation in the industry by occupying a more popular position, in addition to growing as a company with global market influence. A spokesman of the company said, "We will increase awareness of our company and our services through this event, for members of the industry who are still unfamiliar with Storelink. We will go on to form a network within the industry to gain the momentum we need to develop into a better service. "
They also did not forget to give a detailed introduction on their plans for advancement. A spokesman for the company said that, "By the first half of next year, we plan to advance Storelink's service so that it becomes possible to manage and analyze products in real-time by simply entering a URL once. We will develop it into a service that anyone would like to use by steadily adding new services and functions that reflect the needs of our clients."
Galaxy Corporation unveils metaverse contents... "Pay attention to various celebrity avatar IPs!"
Aside from making metaverse avatars, Galaxy Corporation is currently working on most of the fields that can be done with metaverse content such as real avatars and character avatars.
What makes the company stand out is its possession of various celebrity avatar IPs. This has been used in a full-length AI music show. The program had the concept of a show that makes the dreams of celebrities come true. For example, the technology of Galaxy Corporation was used to increase the height of a singer to 3m, bring a giraffe to the stage, and do a joint performance with a deceased artist.
Galaxy Corporation is also actively utilizing social media platforms such as TikTok, debuting avatars and participating in management, content production, and commerce platforms.
An official from Galaxy Corporation, which participated in this exhibition to promote its metaverse content, said, "I think the main focus of the metaverse world will eventually be content. Hardware is also important, but in the end, the core will be the content, and IP is essential for content," he explained.
In addition, he said, "Currently, we are investing a lot in content, and we plan to take it to another level next year. Our goal is to lead the avatar industry by upgrading our avatar technology every year."
PLANA presents vertical take-off and landing aircraft for urban transportation... "Ultimate goal of launching in 2028"
With its establishment in July last year, PLANA is a start-up that develops ''air taxis' which are mid- to long-distance aircraft suitable for urban air traffic.
PLANA is developing an aircraft capable of flying over 500 km with a cruising speed of 300 km/h and a maximum speed of 350 km/h with one pilot and 4 to 6 passengers on board. Because it does not require a long runway due to vertical take-off and landing, it can be used anywhere in the city center making it good to use in traffic congestion areas.
PLANA, which is developing hybrid-based vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) electric powered aircraft, succeeded in attracting 11.8 billion won of pre-series A investment in October. As the lead of Schmidt-DSC Investment Future Mobility Fund, Shinhan Asset Management, Future Play, Dt& Investment, Industrial Bank of Korea, and Korea Technology Finance Corporation participated in the investment.
An official from PLANA said, "We are moving towards the final goal of launching in 2028. And we are preparing the foundation for moving to the next stage of the business, such as technical cooperation and attracting investment."
• Metatexture, Introduces 'SweetEgg', a Plant-Based Alternative Egg… "Catch consumers' appetite for the future development of the food industry!"
Metatexture is a food-tech startup that uses domestic agricultural products to develop alternative foods that can replace protein food groups other than meat. As the first item, the plant-based egg 'SweetEgg' was released.
SweetEgg was created as an alternative food in the form of eggs with 100% plant-based ingredients as the poultry industry suffered instability of supply and demand due to the Avian Influenza (AI). The main technology is in the texture implementation. The company explains that by digitizing the data of when a person chews, it was able to make the texture of the white part of the SweetEgg to be 80% similar to that of an original egg.
Joo-In Moon, the CEO of Metatexture revealed the development background, "The global market for alternative proteins is increasing. The overseas market for alternative food is active but the entered products are mainly meat. In the case of Korea, the alternative food market itself is in the early stages. Therefore, we took on the challenge with the possibility that if we develop alternative foods for protein other than meat as well, we will be able to enter not only the domestic market but also the overseas market.
The alternative egg products include boiled eggs, dried whole egg, dried powder, and cream products that utilize the whipping function of egg whites. Metatexture said it can use these to release various products such as egg-mayo sandwich, scrambled egg, egg rolls, and whipped cream for cake.
Metatexture is officially releasing the product in November, after a two-year development period. CEO Joo-In Moon explained that the egg-mayo crowd funding is underway on Wadiz in the B2C field, and B2B is also responding enthusiastically with inquiries flooding in from food companies to use SweetEgg as an ingredient. At the end of November, you will be able to find products containing SweetEgg in the convenience food corner of convenience stores, and since the beginning of this year they have been collaborating with international affiliates of large corporations to speed up overseas expansion.
They are also planning to develop alternative foods based on plant-based protein, produce protein substitutes using microorganisms, and develop a model for predicting the physical properties of data-based mixed Hydrogel.
TeamSparta Showcases Coding Education Service, 'Sparta Coding Club' & 'Intellipick', a Developer Employment Platform
In addition to 'Sparta Coding Club', the online coding lessons, TeamSparta operates 'Port 99', the coding bootcamp, 'Chang', a startup bootcamp for employees, and 'Intellipick', an employment platform for developers, to help develop SW talent. Their accomplishments were recognized, leading to their selection for Samsung C-Lab Outside at the start of the year, and they were able to attract 13 billion KRW in the series A round of investments last February.
'Sparta Coding Club' was also awarded as 1st in the coding education category at 'Brand of the Year 2022', which was hosted by the Customers Council in September. Following 10.5 billion KRW in sales last year, they were able to pass 10 billion KRW in sales in the first half of this year, and they are aiming to reach 30 billion KRW in sales by the end of this year.
Sparta Coding Club has high completion rates of lessons reaching 85.5%. the demand for the reinforcement of SW competency in practitioners and digital transformation has been quickly rising recently, the number of company coding lesson graduates are quickly increasing as well. From January this year to August, the B2B sales of 'Sparta Coding Club' rose by 149% compared to the same period last year. This figure is way above the entire B2B sales figures of Sparta Coding Club in 2021.
Since 2020, TeamSparta has been conducting tailored company coding lessons for employees in various industries, like in the financial sector, startups, and prominent IT corporations like Woowa Bros and Kakao. Companies and institutions they are currently working with include the Bank of Korea, Korea Investment Value Asset Management, Korea Investment Capital, GS, Boston Consulting Group, and the Gyeongnam Center for Creative Economy and Innovation.
A spokesman of TeamSparta explained that, "With the completion rate of B2B company lessons reaching 91%, we provide lessons tailored for actual work and provide 'concentrated management' unique to Sparta Coding Club, which is online but feels online, to record high completion rates. We also provide consultations for database building for companies getting company lessons.'
The developer employment platform they plan to introduce together, 'Intellipick', is a service that was launched last June. The company revealed that around 800 companies have already used Intellipick to find new developers and are showing high satisfaction. When using Intellipick for the developer employment process, users can get comments from mock interviewers, who are also current developers, and from colleagues who studied development together, to shorten the document screening period. A manager is assigned when registered as a company member, and they will closely manage users until they are employed.
A spokesman explained that, "Over 3,000 new developers are produced every year through TeamSparta's 'Port 99', and 'Naeil Baeum Camp', the government supported bootcamp. This is the employment platform where you can meet high-quality talent the quickest."
TeamSparta plans on focusing on overseas expansion in the future, and are scheduled to start 'Sparta Coding Club', the online coding education service, in the North American market.
AIMS Showcases Exchangeable Eco-Friendly Two-Wheeled Vehicle Battery Charging Station
Established in July 2018, AIMS worked on the technical development of an exchangeable battery charging station for the commercial use of two-wheeled vehicles for 3 years, before finally completing a prototype and launching the service on the market on July 2021. They have installed around 40 exchangeable battery stations around the country and are servicing delivery agencies and general customers. In addition, their electric scooter, LEO, were selected for the government subsidy project by the Ministry of Environment in 2021 and 2022, and accumulated sales of 400 units. They are currently exporting to South America and Europe and are aiming to install over 100 units within the year.
A spokesman for AIMS explained that, "We developed the service for the expansion of eco-friendly electric two-wheeled vehicles, due to the issues of pollution and noise from two-wheeled vehicles powered by internal combustion. We tried to solve the characteristic issue in battery-based mobility of short driving distances compared to the long charging time by being able to freely replace depleted batteries with charged batteries. In this way, we were able to develop a solution that allows individuals to drastically reduce the amount of time spent on charging batteries and also solve safety issues in battery use."
AIMS' exchangeable battery platform, 'NANU', has IoT terminals installed in each battery, which enables the status of batteries to be collected and monitored in real-time. AIMS explained one of their strengths of their service was thatthe related information is sent to clients through a user app, so that clients are able to learn accurate information regarding the batteries andneed to worry less about their safety. In addition, the station can be installed anywhere with 220v single-phase power, and this ease of installation was also selected as one of their strengths.
A spokesman said, "We seek to use this exhibition as an opportunity to promote our services to investors and clients, to getinvestments for the expansion of business, and to expand work collaboration," and went on to say, "We are continuously working on improving the exchangeable battery charging service. We are also currently working on technical development and certification to add to the lineup of electric bikes, and we are expanding our list of collaborators so they can be used on more bikes next year."
Flipper Corporation Showcases 'Hitbim', a Mobile App Development SaaS Platform… "Make Your Own Great Website without Coding!"
Flipper Corporation is a startup that provides app builder services that are capable of developing mobile apps without coding. In addition to its final selection for the TIPS program this April, they have also been awarded the 'Excellence Award for the Korea Challenge' at 'Try Everything 2022', the global startup festival held last September.
They drew attention from the visitors at the exhibition with 'Hitbim', the no-coding app builder. Hitbim is a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that enables anyone to develop mobile applications without going through the coding process.
The company explained that it is possible to easily make superb apps with just a few clicks, as Hitbim enables mobile app development in plugin units. It is possible to create JavaScript-based apps without worrying about compilers or API, and it provides various platforms, from shopping malls to portfolios. The created apps can then be released all over the world through Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
It is characterized by its low cost in not only the creation process, but in the maintenance process as well. There were significant costs in conventional methods in the process of outsourcing app creation, maintenance, and management to other companies, but Hitbim not only enables beginners to make apps, but also has the advantage of adding various functions through a drag-and-drop method.
A spokesman for Flipper Corporation said that, "Using Hitbim, you can easily create various apps, from personal apps to use with your friends to services for business, without the need for coding," and went on to say, "While we will expand the range of templates for app development and add various plugin functions, we are also planning to pursue global expansion, prioritizing regions with much demand."
SqueezeBits Introduces AI Model Compression SaaS Toolkit That They are Developing… "Aims to Target Global Market with Big Demand!
SqueezeBits is a startup that was established in March 2022 by a team who had been researching AI compression technology for 6 years at POSTECH. They have proven their expertise with their presentations on compression technology every year in globally authoritative academic conferences in the field of AI, such as NeurIPS, ICLR, and CVPR. They have also succeeded in attracting seed investment from Naver and POSTECH Holdings soon after their establishment.
They are now in the midst of conducting PoC with AI startups and Naver Clova, and it has been said that they are preparing for the launch of their SaaS compression toolkit that helps quickly and easily compress AI models.
SqeezeBits' AI model compression SaaS toolkit is a software that helps people without prior expertise to apply and test out related technology and was developed based on AI model quantization technology. It is characterized by its provision of 3 core functions, which are △AI model visualization, △AI model quantization, △ and a comparative analysis of the accuracy and speed of compressed models.
When the user uploads an AI model, it shows the user how the model is composed through a graph, and it is possible to select a specific part to compress. It can currently be compressed through quantization methods, and there are plans to add various other compression functions in the future.
Their quantization method is a method that simplifies data used in AI models into a simpler format like 8-bit instead of 32-bit, and one can expect reduction in AI model memory usage and faster calculation speeds.
A spokesman for SqueezeBits said that, "The most surprising thing we found out as we verified our technical capabilities, which we accumulated over a long time of doing research, was that more teams than you'd expect service AI models without even trying even the simplest attempts at compressing them," and "They'd obviously require a compression expert for optimization through extreme compression, but even though there were various compression toolkits on the market, most were unable to utilize these."
They then went on to explain the background of their service development, saying, "That's why our company thought that there was a need to create a toolkit that allows people to easily try compression and helps them understand the process, even if they aren't compression experts."
SqueezeBits' compression toolkit is soon to be revealed and released, and the company says they are preparing to officially launch the toolkit in the first half of next year. A spokesman of the company shared their future plans, saying, "We will launch the toolkit after improving the product through our clients who are currently collaborating on the PoC, and making it easier for users to use." They then went on to say, "The compression needs of each company varies wildly. That's why our company has a deep history of studying compression, and we plan to quickly target the global market where the there is a big demand."
Covering Introduces Recycling & Household Waste Collection Service, 'Recle'… "Will Continue to Work on Achieving High Rates of Recycling"
Established in 2020, Covering is a company that developed and operates a service for collecting household waste. Obtaining the certification for the ICT Regulatory Sandbox Demonstration Exception (active administration) on the 20th of September last year, they have succeeded in making the collection of household waste into a service, when it had not been able to be done before.
They were then able to receive seed investment from Spring Camp, an investment company affiliated with Naver in October 2021, and was able to launch 'Recle', the currently operated mobile trash collection service, as a result. Through this service, Covering recorded a monthly rate of sales growth averaging 27% over the last year.
Covering's Recle is a service that sorts and separates trash that it collects from households and businesses, with the point of the service guaranteeing convenience for users when they throw out the trash. A spokesman for the company explained that they provide eco-friendly value by improving the quality of waste through strict waste sorting and enabling a high rate of recycling.
Since opening the service area in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul in August last year, Recle has sequentially expanded its service area to include Gangnam-gu, Seongdong-gu, and some parts of Seocho-gu. According to Covering, Recle's monthly household users are continuously rising by over 20% every month. Over 4,000 households in the current service area had subscribed, and around 700 households are using the paid service every month.
A spokesman for Covering said that, "We are currently focusing on attracting investments in the Pre-A round, and discovering partners to expand our business through cooperation." They then went on to reveal their reason for attending the exhibition, saying, "As a service that helps people easily get rid of their trash but reach high rates of recycling, we are hoping to discover points for collaboration with companies that produce household waste."
They then went on to say, "We wish to go beyond collecting household waste in the future and expand our range of collection to include bulky waste and used goods. In this way, we plan to enable all the disposable items produced in a household to be disposed through our service and make the process much more convenient." They then went on to share their business plan, saying, "We will secure a recycling facility to directly recycle all of the trash we collect and create a structure for recycling to turn the collected waste into high-quality raw materials."
Having its 4th iteration this year, 'COMEUP 2022' was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Young Lee) and organized by the Korea Startup Forum (Chairman Jaewook Park). Startups, investors, and people related to startups from over 15 countries attended, and this year in particular was the start of COMEUP's rebranding from the previous government-private collaboration to the private-led event that it is now, as it aims to become a global Top 5 startup event. With the slogan of 'WE MOVE THE WORLD', the event was conducted both on and offline, and had various programs like Academic Conferences (Conference), Open Innovation Strategy of Global Companies (Open Innovation), COMEUP Stars Company Introduction (IR) and Booth Exhibitions, and Business Matching (Biz Matching).
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