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| CEOs of tech firms that made the list of LG CNS-launched "Startup Monster" program pose for a photo. Courtesy of LG CNS |
By Lee Kyung-min
LG CNS, an IT services provider affiliate of LG Group, said Wednesday that seven candidates made it on the list of "Startup Monster," a nurturing program for budding tech startups launched by the firm. The seven will receive a cash award of 100 million won ($70,200) each and an opportunity to have their business solutions commercialized over the next six months.
They are Symbiote AI, a developer of an avatar social network with cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology, select star, an AI data mining service provider using cloud sourcing, voinosis, a voice command-oriented smart medical services provider, Carpenstreet, a 3-dimensional modeling design solution services provider, fitfuns, a metaverse-based financial services provider, SmartMind, an applied AI transformation accelerator and Looko, an AI-based fashion and styling services app developer.
A total of 320 firms applied for the challenge, raising the competition rate to 45 to 1, the highest rate seen since the LG affiliate began the startup support program in 2018.
The average corporate value of 10 select digital transformation tech firms has increased five-fold since they made the list three years ago, the LG affiliate said.
Three of them saw their value spike more than 10 times their initial market assessment.
The corporate value of Wemeet Mobility, for example, is about 20 billion won, up 10 times from a year ago.
"Over 1,000 startups have applied with us, becoming industry leaders that foster the development of open online platforms," an LG CNS official said.
