l 20 winners, double that of last year, to be selected ∙∙∙ Applications accepted through the IdeaMaru website until March 13

l Promotion of the materials industry ecosystem with 13 cooperating agencies including KIBO ∙∙∙ Building a sustainable platform

SKC is expanding the new materials technology-_ base_d open platform to strengthen the competitiveness of the materials industry and spread social values. It will double the number of selected companies and provide new consulting service courtesy of experts specializing in each area.

SKC is recruiting startup companies for the 3rd SKC Startup Plus beginning February 17. Any prospective entrepreneur, startup, and SME with creative ideas or technologies for mobility, eco-friendly, energy-saving, and other high-performance/high value-added industrial materials can apply. Applications will be accepted through the IdeaMaru website (http://www.ideamaru.or.kr) until March 13.

SKC will select 20 parties or double that of last year. The selected parties will be announced on March 31 after the _ document_ and presentation screening. “Many participants opined that it would’ve been better if more startups had the opportunity to receive support from the cooperating agencies. Therefore, we doubled the parties to be selected to expand the social value,” an SKC official said.

SKC will provide the funding for commercialization and share its expertise, including management know-how and R&D infrastructure, as a materials specialist company with 40 years’ history. In particular, it will launch a new program wherein 30 experts in the fields of automobile, display, ICT, and AI provide specialized online/offline consulting services.

The cooperating agencies add expertise in each area. KIBO, which joined as a new participating agency this year, will provide technology financial consulting and help in selecting the winners so that more qualified startups participate in the platform and receive support. Shinhan Bank will _ eval_uate the patents of the selected parties and provide financial service.

The Office of Strategic R&D Planning will provide guidance on the policies and support institutional improvement, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information will help the selected parties upgrade their technical and R&D capability. Accounting firm Deloitte Anjin will provide accounting and tax consulting. Meanwhile, the Ulsan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation will provide startup mentoring and other commercialization support and initiate follow-up support _ link_ed with the identification of materials/parts/equipment startups this year. Finally, Ulsan Technopark will provide technical support to venture SMEs. 

For the past three years, SKC has been trying to construct an ecosystem wherein materials startups can grow quickly. SKC worked with five agencies, including the Ulsan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, to establish commercialization support for materials companies in 2017 and launched the SKC Startup Plus contest the following year. It expanded the targets to all SMEs.

“We will continue to foster emerging companies in the materials industry and strengthen their competitiveness with cooperating agencies according to the open innovation principle. We intend to grow SKC Startup Plus into a sustainable platform by cooperating with other institutions,” the SKC official added. [End]

[Poster for the 3rd SKC Startup Plus] SKC is recruiting startup companies for the 3rd SKC Startup Plus beginning February 17. Any prospective entrepreneur, startup, and SME with creative ideas or technologies for mobility, eco-friendly, energy-saving, and other high-performance/high value-added industrial materials can apply.

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