Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities, and Samsung Venture Investment announced on the 12th that they have selected 13 startups to advance to the finals of the 2nd Samsung Financial Open Collaboration.
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities, and Samsung Venture Investment announced on the 12th that they have selected 13 startups to advance to the finals of the "2nd Samsung Financial Open Collaboration."
This year, both the scale and content of the competition have improved compared to the first event. A total of 398 startups applied during the call for entries held from February 22 to March 31, and after screening, 13 companies were selected. The number of participating companies significantly increased compared to the first competition, which had 237 participants, and the number of startups advancing to the finals rose from 10 to 13.
A competition official explained, "Not only has the number of participating companies increased, but the solutions that can be applied to actual business have also noticeably grown."
In particular, the participating startups showed high interest in artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology-based services, and life care solutions.
Samsung Life Insurance selected three startups advancing to the finals: A-Sleep (AI sleep management service based on non-contact biometric signal monitoring), ToBeCon (disease prediction and insurance underwriting support solution using medical data), and Smart Diagnosis (iris-based stress measurement and health management using smartphones).
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance chose Ryan Rocket (converting text to video using digital technology), Grade Health Chain (health grade evaluation using medical and medication information), and Mat & Mot (technology recognizing damage to smartphone screens).
Samsung Card selected Allink (web-based contactless ordering and payment mediation platform using NFC tags), Athenas Lab (platform providing school life information and mediating private tutoring and academies for elementary to high school students), and WorksMate (contactless mediation platform for construction workers).
Samsung Securities picked Billionaires (providing dividend information related to domestic and international stocks), Money Station (stock trading signals and financial SNS based on big data analysis algorithms), and Comtrue Technology (AI-based non-face-to-face identity verification services such as ID OCR and facial recognition).
In the common task category, Action Power (voice recognition technology-based identity verification) was selected.
These startups will each receive a prize of 30 million KRW and collaborate with Samsung financial company employees for four months to develop business models and solutions. After a presentation event in September, the four teams that win the final round will receive an additional prize of 10 million KRW each, and their ideas will be commercialized.
Samsung financial affiliates plan to review equity investment for some of the startups advancing to the finals through a separate screening process.
A Samsung financial company official stated, "By combining the ideas and technological capabilities of startups with the experience of Samsung financial companies, we will present creative solutions," adding, "We will lead the domestic fintech industry through coexistence and innovation with startups."
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