Hanaventures Invests 5 Billion KRW in Winners of the '2nd Early Startup Competition'

Hana Financial Group Successfully Concludes Second Innovation Finance Competition
Approximately 300 Startups Applied, 4 Final Winners Selected, Total Investment of 5 Billion KRW Planned
Hana Ventures Leads New Deal Finance and ESG Management for Hana Financial Group

Kim Dong-hwan, CEO of Hana Ventures (left in the photo), is taking a commemorative photo with Kim Un-yeon, CEO of Pitmedi, who won the grand prize at the "2nd Early Startup Competition" held on the 16th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Hana Ventures, the venture capital arm of Hana Financial Group, announced on the 17th that it held the '2nd Early Startup Competition' yesterday at STUDIO BLACK located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Hana Ventures' Early Startup Competition was first held in July based on Hana Financial Group's commitment to innovative finance aimed at revitalizing the small and venture ecosystem. This second competition also targeted early startups in the business preparation stage to less than three years since founding. Hana Ventures plans to make proactive investments in the selected startups and continue supporting their sustainable growth.

Under the theme "Connect, Learn & Play," which means to enjoy the process of connecting with and learning from each other, over 300 startups applied for this competition. Hana Ventures' judges conducted thorough evaluations of core personnel, business models, and differentiated technologies, selecting nine companies engaged in various fields such as non-face-to-face service platforms, biopharmaceuticals, cloud security, customer management solutions, and e-commerce platforms for the final review.

Notably, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held untact and broadcast live online. After presentations and Q&A sessions, four startups were honored with awards: Grand Prize to Pitmedi (non-face-to-face exercise habit platform), Excellence Award to Tatum (cloud security solution), and Merit Awards to Crafta (personal creative product sales platform) and The Family Lab (women’s home training platform).

Hana Ventures plans to immediately invest a total of 5 billion KRW, up to 1 billion KRW per company, to the award-winning companies and final candidates, with plans for additional investments in the future.

Hana Financial Group has announced a total financial support of 60 trillion KRW to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and succeed in the Korean New Deal for economic revitalization. Hana Ventures will serve as the spearhead of New Deal finance and ESG management for Hana Financial Group, fulfilling its role as a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) by supporting early startups and supplying venture capital.

Kim Dong-hwan, CEO of Hana Ventures, stated, "When we held the 1st Early Startup Competition last summer, we promised to hold this event regularly twice a year," adding, "Just as technology companies continuously invest in R&D, Hana Ventures will steadily continue investing in early startups and strive to become a financial partner that grows together with startups."