On December 10, 2021, the 2021 online Startup Entrepreneurship Competition commenced. The competition was organized by the SNU Entrepreneurship Center and the game developer Krafton. It was the final event of the 2021 Startup Convention that aimed to enhance the entrepreneurial capabilities of students.

Founded in 2014, the SNU Entrepreneurship Center aims to provide solutions to societal issues from a new perspective that is different from the conventional ones of business and engineering studies. As such, the Center systematically launches programs that help student startups. Academically, the Center runs entrepreneurial business administration classes. In the non-academic sector, it holds special lectures, funds various related extracurricular clubs, and provides platforms to initiate startups and connect students to experts and investment advisors. The 2021 Startup Convention provided mostly non-academic support, featuring in particular the Startup Entrepreneurship Competition, which offered special lectures that allowed teams to interpret market systems and connect these systems with technology in order to propose new target markets.

The Startup Entrepreneurship Competition: An Event that Connects Business and Technology

On the day of the competition, the five participating teams gathered online in a Zoom meeting along with the Center’s president Yi Yoo Jae, vice-president Bae Jong Hoon, and a panel of judges. Two of the participating teams were selected because they excelled in the

entrepreneurship mentoring program “Strange Idea II'', which was hosted by the SNU Entrepreneurship Center in October and November. The other three teams were invited because they scored the highest out of the 31 teams that participated in the preliminary evaluation. The preliminary evaluation assessed the business plans of the teams, based on their originality and potential for market expansion. The judges for the competition were Ohsang Kwon, co-founder of Primer Sazze Partners, Kim Ilhwan, partner of Stonebridge Ventures, Kim Jaehyun, founder of Crevisse Partners, Kim Chulhee, executive director of Translink Investment, Oh Jongwook, director of Capstone Partners, and Lee Eunggyu, team manager of Seoul Techno Holdings.

The online 2021 Startup Entrepreneurship Competition

The five teams proposed products in the areas of health, mobility, delivery service, fintech, and art. The presentations began with Lee Soo Hyun of team Romansive, who introduced Richera, a food product that purports to enhance sleep quality. This was followed by the team Pylon’s MAXXER, a charging device for electric cars; team Taboot’s shopper brokerage platform called Mojang; team Rumiglu’s Bot an intermediary service for money transactions between individuals; and team Vart’s Bart, a transaction brokerage platform for artwork. After each of the presentations, the panel members probed the presenting team with questions, asking for details of the product’s technology, or requesting data supporting the effectiveness of the business model. Some panel members also offered practical advice. In response to team Romansive’s plan to enter the American market, Ohsang Kwon and Kim Ilhwan recommended initially focusing on either the Korean or the American market, tailoring the product in a way that considers factors involved in exporting, such as civil aviation laws and distribution costs.

Creating New Markets and Resolving Societal Issues through Startups

(From the left) Team Vart’s Lee Eun Jeong, Team Pylon’s Bae Sung Hwan, Researcher Im Hyuk Sun, Researcher Jung Guwon

After the presentations, the panel members gathered in a separate meeting room to select the winners. The grand prize was awarded to Team Pylon, while team Vart won the excellence award. The SNU Entrepreneurship Center’s Vice-president Bae Jong Hun explained that a major criterion for selection was the proposed products’ potential for making an impact in their respective markets. Team Pylon and team Vart scored highly in this regard, with team Pylon’s product showing the possibility of advancing the electric car industry, while team Vart showed an abundance of practical competence in presenting their business model. In his award acceptance speech, team Pylon’s Bae Sung Hwan noted that he benefited greatly from the advice that he received from venture capitalists during the “Strange Idea II” mentoring program. The grand prize and excellence award winners received scholarships of two million and one million won respectively. The scholarships were funded by SNU alumni Kim Nak Hyung of Krafton.

The SNU Entrepreneurship Center promotes the idea that a startup should not just be a way to get rich, but rather a means for addressing societal issues through a process that is open to everyone. The Center encourages students who are interested in startups to use its resources as a starting point.

Source: https://www.snu.ac.kr/snunow/snu_story?md=v&bbsidx=134815

Written by Yeryoung Lee, SNU English Editor, yeryounglee@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr