Recognition of Great Contributors
The Venture-Startup Expo will encourage and praise venture start-ups which performed greatly in 2016. The Korean government will recognize them by giving awards: Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit to Castec Korea, an automotive component maker; Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit to Nutribiotech, a healthy functional food producer: Iron Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit to JNK Heaters, an industrial heating furnaces maker; and Industrial Service Medal to NC Chem, an optical coating material producer, respectively.
Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit
CEO Yoon Sang-won of Castec Korea Co. (http://www.castec.co.kr/eng/) started his career at GoldStar, the current LG Electronics, in 1958, spun off in 1999 and established a casting and processed product production corporation in China in September 2002. The company, which was listed on KOSDAQ in 2014, has grown together with the history of Korean industry. It manufactures automobile parts, mainly automotive special materials and processed components.
For achievement, Castec Korea has advanced casting and metal processing technologies with its business of 41 years and 6 months, expanded the foundation of the domestic fundamental manufacturing industry, improved the corporate competitiveness with continuous investment and challenge, created jobs and stimulated the economy.
Castec Korea received “The 20 Million Dollars Export Tower" in 2011 and “The 30 Million Dollars Export Tower” in 2015. It develops and commercializes materials of eco-friendly high-efficiency engine component “turbo charger” with the highest market share in Korea.
The company posts 151.5 billion won (US$128.88 million) in sales and it has 390 employees.
Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit
Nutribiotech Co. (CEO Kwon Jin-hyouk, http://www.nutribiotech.co.kr/en/) aims to secure the competitiveness in production and supply by establishing the global production systems for the first time in the domestic healthy functional food ODM production industry.
In order to achieve the stable production capabilities, the company has made preemptive investment to secure production bases at home and abroad, actively responding to the growing healthy functional food market. It expanded the production plant in Korea, completed the construction of the U.S. plant in 2015, and began the construction of the Australian plant at the end of 2016, while it plans to complete the Chinese plant in 2017.
Nutribiotech manufactures and offers products that suit customers' needs at the right time and the right place and exchange information about technologies and markets with other countries, aggressively breaking into the global markets.
With the global localization strategy, the company aims to jump into one of the world’s top 10 healthy functional food producers and expand the global market share by supplying its products, which are currently exported to 29 countries, around the world.
Nutribiotech dreams of becoming Asia’s leading health and beauty company representing Korea in 2020 and ultimately the No.1 healthy functional food producer in the world.
The company posts 74.4 billion won (US$63.29 million) in sales and it has 269 employees.
Iron Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit
In September 1998, JNK Heaters Co. (CEO Kim Bang-hee, http://www.jnkheaters.co.kr/) was established after Daelim Engineering, the current Daelim Industrial Co., split off its industrial heating furnace division to form a new independent company. Accordingly, the company produces mainly industrial heating furnaces.
JNK Heaters signed a memorandum of understanding with Lummus Technology Heat Transfer, a subsidiary of CB&I of the U.S., and KBR in January 2000, and it was designated as a venture firm in September. It was also selected as one of promising small and mid-sized companies and outstanding technology companies in 2002.
JNK Heaters was registered as a new renewable energy firm in May 2008, and received “The 30 Million Dollars Export Tower” in November 2009. It was listed on KOSDAQ in 2011.
For achievement, the company succeeded in winning and completing the QP Lab project in Qatar in 2004 for the first time in the domestic industry. It also obtained a 26 million euro deal in Oman in 2007, contributing the global competitiveness of industry heating furnaces, while it successfully carried out five projects worth 60 billion won (US$51.04 million) in Iran.
JNK Heaters has boosted the continuous corporate growth and national competitiveness by seeking out and developing medium and long-term growth engines as well as focusing on the current core business.
The company posts 118 billion won (US$100.38 million) in sales and it has 78 employees.
Industrial Service Medal
NC Chem Corp. (CEO Lee Chang-min, http://www.ncchem.co.kr) was established in March 2008 to produce optical coating materials that are used in display panels. The company manufactures mainly equipment to produce electronic and electrical material for LCD and display panels.
NC Chem succeeded in exporting its ink products to the global market in two years after expanding and developing its business areas to the ink market in 2015.
In addition, the company successfully domestically produced imported materials that are used in optical resins, creating the import substitution effect, and exported the products to the global market with the improvement of product performance. Accordingly, its global sales have kept increasing every year from US$3 million (3.53 billion won) in 2014 and US$5 million (5.88 billion won) in 2015. The figure is expected to reach US$10 million (11.76 billion won) by the end of this year.
NC Chem succeeded in mass producing core materials for 3D V-NAND flash memories for the first in the world, while it has the development capability of source materials, such as Polymer, Monomer, PAG, Additive, Oligomer, and the certifications of ISO 9001, 14001, venture firm and INNO-BIZ.
The company posts 24 billion won (US$20.42 million) in sales and it has 90 employees.