Lotte Chilsung Beverage Selects 4th Internal Venture Team... Provides Funding Support for One Year

Group photo of the 4th batch of Lotte Chilsung Beverage's in-house venture. (Photo by Lotte Chilsung Beverage)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Chilsung Beverage announced on the 18th that it has finalized the selection of the 4th batch members for its ‘In-house Venture Program,’ which supports employees in commercializing their creative ideas, and will begin providing startup support.

Now in its fourth year, the Lotte Chilsung Beverage In-house Venture Program is operated to foster a challenging corporate culture, capture new business opportunities amid changing environments, and discover new growth engines for the company. The program has been held annually since 2018.

The 4th In-house Venture Program began accepting applications in January, with a total of 23 teams applying. Based on criteria such as feasibility of the proposed business, profit potential, differentiation, and applicant capabilities, business plans prepared by each team were reviewed by team leaders from relevant departments and executives, resulting in the final selection of two teams.

On the 17th, Lotte Chilsung Beverage held an awards ceremony for the 4th batch of in-house ventures and selected two teams that presented ideas for a ‘customized wine subscription service and a travel community service linked to wine origins’ and ‘development and sales of kegs (large-capacity beer containers for draft beer) and home beer machines utilizing them.’ Each team was awarded a prize of 10 million KRW.

Starting in June, Lotte Chilsung Beverage plans to support the in-house venture teams for one year by providing necessary funds including operating expenses and salaries, offering external office spaces independent from the company, and conducting regular mentoring to ensure smooth business operations.

If the in-house venture teams decide to spin off as independent corporations in the future, the company will guarantee management independence and, even if the business fails, will offer re-employment opportunities within five years to encourage bold business challenges while ensuring employment stability. In fact, the ‘Office Minibar Team,’ selected through the 3rd in-house venture program, is planning to spin off and start a business from June.

A Lotte Chilsung Beverage official said, “We hope that the ideas of the in-house venture teams selected in the 4th batch will lead to successful business outcomes.”

Meanwhile, the 3rd batch in-house venture team ‘Ganda Team,’ selected last year, is accelerating its business after exceeding its crowdfunding goal by 649% with its homemade smoothie kit, and the ‘SMART ChopChop Team,’ which proposed an untact ordering service for restaurants, has completed service development and is focusing on securing business partners to advance the project, actively engaging in activities.