The Korea & Company Group has recently been gaining attention for its active efforts in discovering promising startups. Chairman Cho Hyun-beom, who has been planning various mutually beneficial business models with startups, is contributing to the expansion of the domestic startup ecosystem by making indirect investments such as direct investment, open innovation (open innovation that develops technology through the exchange of technology and ideas between companies), and joint participation in accelerating programs with external professional organizations.
As part of these activities, Hankook & Company, the business holding company of Hankook & Company Group, invested 9 billion won in the domestic secondary battery electrode foundry company ‘JR Energy Solutions’ last month. The company is a startup that produces ‘electrodes’, a core material for lithium-ion batteries (LIB), and has recently been recognized for its high growth potential in line with the global trend of expanding the supply of eco-friendly energy solutions.
With this investment, Hankook & Company plans to provide the business network and know-how it has acquired in the lead-acid battery industry over the past 80 years as a strategic investor (SI) to drive the external growth of the startup, while also cooperating in building a business model, such as promoting the development of LIB-related technologies and products.
Prior to this partnership, in June of this year, we also made a follow-up investment in ‘iTruck’, an online cargo used car trading platform based on big data. Including the initial equity acquisition last year, we are supporting value-up with a total investment of 2 billion won, while continuing to discover and cooperate with iTruck to continuously develop business momentum and to foster a domestic cargo used car platform.
In addition, Hankook & Company is also accelerating the establishment of an ecosystem that provides cutting-edge R&D infrastructure, networks, etc., as well as the company’s abundant business know-how. In July of this year, it participated as the first investor in the ‘Rocketship IR Competition’, an early-stage startup investment activation program, with the investment accelerator ‘C&T Tech’, and provided open innovation linked to core business areas such as ▲mobility ▲logistics automation ▲3D printing ▲robots ▲precision processing for promising startups.
The ‘Rocketship IR Competition’ is one of the representative startup support programs in Korea, hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startups and Entrepreneurship Development. Korea & Company has been participating as a partner organization since last year, providing investment, cooperation, and business consulting to promising companies.
In addition, in June, the company participated as a demand company in the ‘2024 Industrial Complex Open Innovation Program’, a domestic startup initial investment public offering jointly hosted by the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, and actively cooperated in discovering promising domestic startups.
Hankook Tire & Technology (hereinafter referred to as Hankook Tire), a core business company, is also actively participating in Chairman Cho Hyun-beom’s startup fostering activities. In February of last year, Hankook Tire highly evaluated the growth and innovation potential of ‘Carmus’, the first domestic used car e-commerce platform, and signed a pre-Series A investment contract worth 3 billion won, marking the beginning of group-level startup lead investment.
Significant results were also achieved in fostering internal ventures. ‘Town Car’, the first personal car sharing service in Korea, which was born as the first in-house venture of Hankook Tire in 2021, has been providing services in Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province through the government’s regulatory sandbox demonstration project. In line with the operating principle of ‘neighborhood car sharing’, it proved the possibility of success by proving a significantly low accident rate with data, leading to continuous relaxation of regulatory sandbox business conditions.
Since then, they have succeeded in developing insurance and certification technology exclusively for private car sharing, and have been providing services in all areas of Gyeonggi-do, including Seongnam, Suwon, and Yongin, since October of last year. Through this, they have reduced personal and social costs caused by idle cars, while improving the convenience of transportation for residents in areas with vulnerable transportation systems, and the government has recognized this, so there is a high possibility that related laws will be revised.
Going forward, Hankook & Company Group plans to actively support domestic startups by utilizing the cutting-edge infrastructure and tangible and intangible assets of its major affiliates, including Hankook Tire, while expanding the scope of open innovation to ▲future mobility ▲digital healthcare ▲eco-friendliness∙energy ▲robots ▲big data∙AI ▲sports tech ▲proptech, thereby continuously creating exemplary cases in which large corporations and startups can cooperate and coexist.
Reporter Jeong Jin-su, Donga.com [email protected]
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2024-08-29 18:52:30