• Designed to explore/develop promising businesses that specialize in eco-friendly/mobility/semiconductor··· Deadline for submission: April 13; Result announcement: April 30

• Effort for invigoration of the material sector, jointly with 11 institutions, including NAEK··· establishment of a sustainable platform

SKC (President: Lee Wan-jae) is receiving applications for the 4^th round of SKC Startup Plus, which is a new material-related technology contest. The annual event, which marks the 4^th round this year, is a program designed to help businesses with promising technologies to further develop commercially, through the tangible/intangible assets of the New Material-related Technology-_ base_d Open Platform, in which eleven relevant institutions participate.

SKC will receive the aforementioned applications, starting March 9. Startups (to-be) and SMEs with creative ideas or technologies related to highly-functional industrial materials or those with added value, such as eco-friendly/mobility/semiconductor, may apply. They need to submit their application by email to tnwls3654@ccei.kr by April 13, referring to the public notice at the homepage of the Ulsan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (UCCEI).

About ten businesses will be selected and the result is to be announced on April 30. SKC will provide them with support funds for the commercialization of their technologies and share its management know-how and R&D infrastructure, which has been accumulated over the past 40 years as a business specializing in materials, with them.

SKC will also provide support for the winners in sectors related to technology, finance, safety/environment, and startups, through its consulting service, Industrial Master, which started last year. Industrial Master is a platform service _ link_ing small-sized material businesses with industrial experts for mutual cooperation.

Institutions selected to work with SKC in this event will add their expertise. The National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), for one, is to provide professional consulting in management, factory operations, and R&D. The Korea Technology Credit Guarantee Fund (KOTEC/Kibo) will engage in technology matching that is required by the selected businesses. The Korea Startup Forum is to provide support for the development of startups. Law firm, Sejong, will provide legal consulting. 

The UCCEI will provide education and subsequent programs that are required for the operation of the businesses. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) is to help the businesses with their commercialization and upgrade of their research/planning capability. The Office of Strategic R&D Planning will provide support in policy-related education and systems improvement. Deloitte Anjin LLC is to provide support for consulting in accounting and _ link_age with global investment institutions. Shinhan Bank is to provide financial support concerning the _ eval_uation of the technological value of the businesses. The Uslan Technological Center is to provide technological support for ventures/SMEs.

SKC jointly established the open platform with the UCCEI, etc. in 2017 and started SKC Startup Plus in the following year. Since then, it has poured effort into the expansion of the open platform, including the increase in the number of participating institutions with professional capability and the businesses. In May 2020, SKC was selected as the 14^th Business Engaging in the Voluntary Win-Win Cooperation by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) as an apparent result of such efforts.

Commenting on the event, an SKC official said, “We will do what we can to strengthen the country’s material sector ecosystem by developing promising businesses that specialize in the materials sectors, in cooperation with the institutions that are participating in the new material-related technology-_ base_d open platform.”