Martial Arts-BMW Join Hands to Support Innovation Startup Technology Verification and Scale-up

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] On the 16th, the Korea International Trade Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 'Discovering Promising Domestic Startups and Supporting Proof of Concept (PoC)' at the COEX Startup Branch in Samseong-dong, together with BMW Korea, Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, and FuturePlay.

Attending the signing ceremony were Seungkwan Shin, Executive Director of the Korea International Trade Association; Dieter Strobl, Head of R&D at BMW Group Korea; Hyunsam Shin, Director of the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation; and Joonghee Ryu, CEO of FuturePlay.

Based on this MOU, these organizations plan to jointly promote the 'BMW Testbed Project' and link it with BMW's startup nurturing and investment program, 'Startup Garage,' to provide opportunities for discovering promising startups, overseas expansion, and technology verification. The Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation will support funding for technology verification, and FuturePlay will provide consulting services.

The Korea International Trade Association signed a business agreement on the 16th with BMW Korea, Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, and Future Korea to support the discovery of domestic startups and technology verification. (From left) Ryu Jung-hee, CEO of FuturePlay; Shin Seung-kwan, Executive Director of the Trade Association; Dieter Strobl, Head of R&D at BMW Group Korea; Shin Hyun-sam, Director of Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation / Photo by Korea International Trade Association

In 2019, the Trade Association connected Seoul Robotics, which possesses 3D LiDAR technology, with BMW. Subsequently, Seoul Robotics underwent technology verification and was selected as a smart infrastructure development research partner for BMW's production plants. This time as well, to discover promising domestic startups and support their overseas expansion, the Trade Association and BMW have joined hands with the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and FuturePlay to jointly promote this testbed project.

The BMW Testbed Project will begin recruiting participating startups in August. After conducting technology verification for three months, the final technology verification results will be announced in November, and five startups will be selected. The selected startups will not only become business partners with BMW Korea but, if their technology verification results are outstanding, they will also be recommended to BMW headquarters, providing comprehensive business cooperation opportunities.

Executive Director Shin said, "This testbed project will play a significant role in the overseas expansion of domestic startups as it involves systematic technology verification cooperation with BMW, a leader in the mobility industry," adding, "We will create successful cases and, based on this, further expand open innovation with global large corporations in the future."