The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), led by Commissioner Park Won-joo, announced that it will hold a joint investment attraction seminar (U-Connect with KIPO) with the Credit Guarantee Fund in a non-face-to-face format on July 16 and July 23.
The "U-Connect with KIPO" seminar is the first collaborative event organized by KIPO and the Credit Guarantee Fund to support investment attraction for innovative patent startup companies. A total of four events are scheduled, including the upcoming November seminar, targeting startups with innovative patents in the fields of small and medium-sized components and convergence technologies identified by KIPO.
The U-Connect program of the Credit Guarantee Fund, launched in July 2019, serves as an investment attraction platform that conducts events in both online and offline formats with over 100 investment partners. It introduces a matching guarantee system (U-Connect guarantee) that provides up to three times the investment amount (limited to 300 million KRW) in guarantee support to participating companies.
In the first event held today, five companies participated:
• Neplab Co., Ltd., which has a plasma oxidation treatment method for lightweight alloys;
• Gened Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of semiconductor test components, probe pins, and sockets;
• JH Global Co., Ltd., which produces multifunctional materials with harmful substance removal and antibacterial properties;
• Choi Heon-jin (a prospective entrepreneur), who possesses healthcare component manufacturing technology capable of diagnosing and predicting multiple diseases;
• Quanta Materials Co., Ltd., a producer of silicon oxide anode materials for large-capacity lithium-ion batteries.
The second event scheduled for the 23rd will feature presentations from:
• Beyond Ocean, which produces self-rotating IoT buoy sensors;
• Sunsu Wind Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of smart scalp care dryers;
• Embrid, which has hybrid material manufacturing technology with various reactors;
• O2O Co., Ltd., which provides mobile tourism information and voice marketing platforms;
• Hyundai AIT Co., Ltd., a producer of double flooring materials with seismic and vibration control features.
These innovative patent startups were selected based on proposals from patent examiners and external applications, with patent, technology, and market experts collaborating to comprehensively evaluate their technological innovation, market potential, business viability, and entrepreneurial spirit.
The event will proceed via a video conferencing system (Gurumi Co., Ltd.), featuring company presentations (IR) and Q&A sessions. To expand participation from investors, a live broadcast will also be streamed in real time on the YouTube channel of the Credit Guarantee Fund.
Choi Byung-seok, the head of the patent commercialization division at KIPO, stated, “We will continue to expand various forms of private collaboration to help early-stage startup companies with innovative technologies overcome funding challenges through timely investment attraction.”