POSCO Holds the 21st Idea Marketplace... Discovering 11 Promising Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO is hosting the 'Idea Marketplace (IMP),' a program that supports the entire business process from discovering promising venture companies to investing in them.

On the 23rd, POSCO announced that it will select a total of 11 promising venture companies through the '21st POSCO Idea Marketplace (IMP)' held at Changeup Ground.

To strengthen support for early-stage venture companies, POSCO changed the target applicants last year to prospective entrepreneurs and promising startups less than three years old, and selected IMP companies by deciding on investment as well. More than 500 promising startups applied for this contest, setting a record high competition rate, showing strong interest from prospective entrepreneurs and venture companies.

This event will feature a company presentation session with 11 venture companies participating, including 'Green Mineral,' which possesses technology to extract lithium from waste batteries using the biomineralization function of microalgae, and 'Neptune Cloud,' which is developing a business platform to improve the efficiency of marine fuel trade transactions. It will also include a talk show where prospective entrepreneurs and investors share startup success strategies.

Selected venture companies will receive various benefits such as office space, business support including product development and market expansion, and linkage to POSCO Venture Fund for follow-up investments.

Since 2011, POSCO has discovered a total of 116 venture companies and invested 21.4 billion KRW through the Idea Marketplace, a representative domestic venture company discovery and nurturing program first introduced by a large corporation. Among them, about 50 companies have been connected to the TIPS program to ensure continuous investment support.

Last year, 'Payhere,' selected as an IMP company, launched a mobile POS payment and sales management system, expanding its franchise stores to over 3,200, and additionally attracted 2 billion KRW in investment from a blockchain specialized investment firm. ‘Eomtech,’ an IMP-selected company and POSCO’s first in-house venture startup team, is supplying Slastic, a construction and civil engineering material made from byproduct slag and recycled plastic, to companies such as Amorepacific, and has also been selected for TIPS, showing tangible results.

Meanwhile, POSCO plans to take the lead in realizing ‘Challenge With POSCO,’ a company that aims to bring change and innovation to society and industry through discovering and nurturing venture companies and grow together.