SK Accelerates Fostering 'Impact Unicorns' Creating Social Value

SK, Shinhan Financial Group, KAIST, etc. Host... Applications Open Until April 12 for Eligible Candidates
Only 'Inter-Company Alliance' Method Allowed for Rapid Growth

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Large corporations, financial institutions, and universities are joining forces to intensively nurture social ventures that contribute to solving social issues so that they can grow into national representative-level companies.

SK, Shinhan Financial Group, KAIST SK Social Entrepreneur Center, and Yellowdog (YD)-SK-KDB Social Value Investment Partnership announced on the 21st that they will hold a contest for the 'Impact Unicorn' alliance model targeting social ventures and prospective entrepreneurs until April 12.

'Unicorn' generally refers to startups with a corporate value of around 1 trillion KRW. An 'Impact Unicorn' is a unicorn company that contributes to solving social problems by creating social value together.

The distinctive feature of this contest is that it limits the target to an 'inter-company alliance model.' In other words, multiple social ventures form an alliance through equity exchange or by establishing a separate holding company, then present their future growth plans, which will be reviewed and fully supported. This means maximizing support effects through close integration among social ventures beyond simple collaboration such as joint product development. This approach considers the reality that individual social ventures face many challenges in growing into unicorn-level companies.

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won has emphasized that to attract talented individuals to social enterprises, they must have a certain level of sales and world-class potential, and that increasing growth speed through solidarity and integration among social ventures may be more efficient.

Details such as how to apply and submission documents can be found on the KAIST SK Social Entrepreneur Center website (https://sksecenter.kaist.ac.kr). An information session will be held on May 4 at Heyground in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.

If selected in the contest, companies will receive support for marketing, finance, IT (information technology) services necessary for growth, as well as human resources for business promotion and connections to external investors. Among the contest organizers, Shinhan Financial Group participates in discovering and supporting the commercialization of 'inter-company alliance models' that align with the purpose of nurturing 'Impact Unicorns' through its innovation company discovery and nurturing platform, 'Shinhan Future's Lab.' Shinhan Financial Hope Foundation and Shinhan Alternative Investment Management plan various supports to help participating companies rapidly grow into Impact Unicorns by promoting impact investments in the participating companies.