Shinhan Bank Completes 1st Cohort of Shinhan Open Innovation Program

A Bridging Program Matching Tech Startups with Tech Demand Companies
Diverse Collaboration Cases Achieved by 26 Selected Startups in Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, and More

The activities of the first cohort of Shinhan Open Innovation, conducted over 12 weeks since last October.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Shinhan Bank announced on the 23rd that it held the graduation ceremony for the first cohort of ‘Shinhan Open Innovation,’ a program supporting startups with excellent technological capabilities to enter the market.

‘Shinhan Open Innovation’ is a program conducted at ‘S2 Bridge: Seoul’ (Shinhan Square Bridge: Seoul, formerly Do Dream Space), which connects startups with technological capabilities and companies with technology demands to actively support startups needing market entry opportunities amid the COVID-19 situation.

In the first cohort of ‘Shinhan Open Innovation,’ 137 technology startups from various fields such as fintech, artificial intelligence, big data, edutech, and smart city applied. After overcoming a competition rate of 5 to 1, 26 startups were finally selected. The demand companies participating included five firms: Shinhan Financial Group, Good Neighbors Global Impact, KT CS, Commax & Commax Ventures, and Halla Group.

From October, various online and offline programs for capacity building were conducted over 12 weeks, including know-how on business operations, corporate promotion skills, and consulting for technology and business advancement. At this graduation ceremony, Romin, Big Wave Robotics, MyOn, Towns, and RTM were selected as outstanding collaboration cases of the first cohort of ‘Shinhan Open Innovation,’ and a total prize of 100 million KRW was awarded.

In the first cohort of ‘Shinhan Open Innovation,’ excellent collaboration cases between demand companies and startups were realized in various forms. MyOn (CEO Youngjoo Go), which has commercialized career diagnosis, education, and counseling services, was selected as the preferred negotiation partner for KT CS’s employment camp in the education business after demonstrating the career diagnosis program with KT CS. Seed& (CEO Deukhwan Lee), developing an AI-based real-time energy management solution, is preparing pilot tests at buildings and logistics centers with Good Neighbors Global Impact. Additionally, Towns (CEO Yoonjin Choi), preparing an idle vehicle sharing service, and Hanjum (CEO Kyungsik Choi), a smart house solution company, are about to sign a business agreement with Commax & Commax Ventures for mid- to long-term projects.

A Shinhan Bank official said, "Open innovation will be a good foundation providing new business discovery opportunities for both participating startups and demand companies," adding, "We will continue to create various opportunities for technology and business linkage to support the business expansion of startups."

Meanwhile, Shinhan Financial Group has established and operates ‘S² Bridge’ (Shinhan Square Bridge) in Seoul and Incheon to support the growth and global expansion of K-startups and to promote the expansion of the startup ecosystem. It plans to expand to major hub cities nationwide, including Daejeon, Jeju, Daegu, Gwangju, and Busan.

At ‘S² Bridge,’ various methods are used to support startup scale-up, including dedicated fund formation and investment linkage, open innovation, domestic and international accelerating, IR and demo days, hosting various startup-related events and conferences, as well as talent recruitment.