LG Chem announced on March 16 that it will hold the first Global Innovation Challenge (GIC) for startups around the world.Through the GIC, LG Chem intends to expand its existing open innovation based on industry-academic cooperation to the global startup sector and secure promising technologies for
Samsung SDI has started the construction of the industry's first pilot line for all-solid-state batteries.The company announced on March 14 that it broke ground for a pilot all-solid-state battery line on a 6,500-square-meter site on the premise of its research institute in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon o
The Born2Global Center announced on March 2 that it has signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with the Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey and Teknopark Istanbul for partnership and collaboration in innovation and high-tech startups of the two countries.The three o
Kolmar Korea, a leading Korean cosmetics original design manufacturer (ODM), is moving to enter the Middle East market.Kolmar Korea announced on Feb. 21 that it has signed a business agreement with the International Beauty Industry Trade Association (IBITA) to explore new business opportunities in t
SK Telecom announced on Feb. 22 the results of ESG Korea 2021, an ESG startup support program launched last year in cooperation with domestic and foreign partners.A total of 14 ESG startups were selected for support in 2021. These startups took home 23 major competition prizes, six companies attract
South Korean startups in the non-memory chip sector are coming up with successful results one after another.For example, semiconductor design company SemiFive attracted an investment of 130 billion won on Feb. 16 from Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Korea Investment Partners and Pavilion Capital, a
The Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups said that Korea had 18 unicorn companies, the largest-ever number, as of the end of 2021.Unicorn companies are unlisted companies with corporate value of more than 1 trillion won. The number of unicorn companies is recognized as an important indicator of the
An increasing number of Chinese companies are entering the cylindrical battery market, which has been led by South Korean and Japanese EV battery manufacturers.CATL, EVE and CBAK are planning to start the mass production of 4680 cylindrical batteries this year. EVE and CBAK are currently building fa
An increasing number of South Korean startups are relocating their headquarters overseas and turning their organizations in South Korea into subsidiaries. Coupang accelerated this trend last year by going public in New York instead of South Korea, and Riiid is planning to do the same.In fact, this h
LG Nova, which is an innovation center of LG Electronics, will invest more than US$20 million in innovative startups in the healthcare, metaverse and mobility areas, the center's head said in a news conference in Las Vegas on Jan. 4.Rhee Sok-woo, head of LG Nova and senior vice president of LG E
Play-to-earn (P2E) games are expected to change the paradigm of the game market, and related startups are attracting increasing investments.The Blockchain Game Alliance said on Jan. 5 that the sales of NFT-based games added up to US$2.32 billion in the third quarter of last year and the number of re
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on Dec. 26 that the number of startup companies in South Korea was 39,101 at the end of last year and their total sales were 206.9 trillion won last year.As of the end of 2020, 817,000 persons were working for the 39,101 startup companies. For reference, t
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that their IP Bank platform will be put into operation in the second quarter of next year after a platform operator selection procedure scheduled to start next month.The platform is to discover and develop sem
Shinhan Financial Group announced on Dec. 17 that it has become the first Asian financial company to be awarded in the Open Innovation Challenger category of the Corporate Startup Stars Awards (CSS Awards).The CSS Awards is a prestigious annual prize launched under the European Commission’s Startup
The Born2Global Center participated in the third Global Innovative Growth Forum (GIGF), which was held on Dec. 8 and 9, and introduced innovative South Korean and Latin American startups’ joint ventures. GIGF 2021 was co-hosted by World Bank and the Ministry of Economy & Finance of Korea to address
Startup Alliance Korea said on Dec. 9 that this year’s domestic startup investment is expected to exceed 20 trillion won.Last year, the investment was approximately 11.6 trillion won, consisting of 9.0815 trillion won from the government and domestic investment companies and 2.5 trillion won or so f
LG Energy Solution will expand cylindrical battery production in Korea and China.According to a securities report submitted by LG Energy Solution for the planned IPO, the company will invest 645 billion won in its Ochang plant in Korea by 2023 to add a cylindrical battery production line. The plant’
SK Innovation’s electric vehicle battery technology offers enormous business opportunities, a Canadian mobility consultant has asserted."More opportunities are emerging for SK Innovation as lithium-ion battery technology continues to develop and new chemicals target niche markets,” said James Carter
The South Korean government has decided to turn hydrogen into South Korea’s biggest energy source by 2050. To this end, it will expand hydrogen-based power generation while increasing the supply of clean hydrogen, replace 100 percent of fuels in the steel and chemical industries with hydrogen, incre
The Startup Alliance announced on Nov. 22 that South Korean startups attracted an investment of 9.4033 trillion won for the first 10 months of this year and the annual total is expected to exceed 10 trillion won for the first time in history this year.This has to do with various incentives from the