The centers, of which there are 18 located across the country, were established under the Park Geun-hye administration to support the country’s small businesses in a variety of ways, including finance, management, and business relationships, and are managed jointly by 16 Korean conglomerates. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced Thursday some of the most successful ventures by startups and SMEs funded or supported by the Center for Creative Economy & Innovation.
One of the companies introduced was 247 Korea, which manufactures a self-protection smartphone case that can automatically send reports to the authorities in emergency situations, or be used as a Taser.
The company is currently in talks with China’s Huawei and U.S. mobile carrier Verizon, and is hoping to reach sales of 10 billion won ($8.3 million) in 2018.
Miro, which developed a humidifier that can be easily dissembled for the cleansing of all its internal parts, managed to boost sales from 2.6 billion won in 2014 to 5.2 billion in 2015, and ultimately set a new breakthrough of 10 billion won this year. It also inked export contracts worth 37 billion won with ten countries.
Other noticeable businesses of this year included Cremotech, which developed a portable beam laser projector, and Plasma Korea, for a wastewater purification system using plasma technology instead of conventional filters.
“Startups and innovation will continue (via creative economy and innovation centers), and the government will proceed with its support (of businesses through the centers),” said vice minister Hong Nam-ki.
The centers, of which there are 18 located across the country, were established under the Park Geun-hye administration to support the country’s small businesses in a variety of ways, including finance, management, and business relationships, and are managed jointly by 16 Korean conglomerates.
However, following the influence-peddling scandal surrounding President Park, the “creative economy” initiative, which had been one of the Park administration’s core projects, also faced skepticism over its legitimacy, and the project’s future now remains uncertain.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
