Hanwha Life to Host Senior Social Economy Startup Competition

Hanwha Life announced on the 16th that it held the '2021 Senior Social Economy Startup Competition' at the Sinaneun Johap Seoro Learning Center located in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in collaboration with 'Sinaneun Johap'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Hanwha Life announced on the 16th that it held the '2021 Senior Social Economy Startup Competition' at the Sin-naneun Johap Mutual Learning Center located in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in collaboration with the microcredit organization 'Sin-naneun Johap'.

A total of 21 teams from across the country participated in this competition, with 4 teams advancing past the preliminary round to the finals.

The participating teams presented business ideas on themes such as 'Damyang specialty crop beverages,' 'cultural and artistic cooperatives,' 'senior universities,' and 'social fashion for the disabled.' The 4 finalist teams were awarded a total prize of 10 million KRW.

The grand prize was awarded to the Plus Lab team, which proposed social fashion that creates comfortable clothing for everyone regardless of disability status. The team received high praise for their business plan to build a social fashion platform that goes beyond fashion for 1.5 million disabled people to include 6 million silver generation seniors, for introducing eco-friendly and human-friendly materials, and for contributing to the social economy through job creation for vulnerable groups.

Hanwha Life plans to provide the selected seniors with a systematic startup training program to help them grow as social entrepreneurs. Additional benefits such as linkage with various support projects and expanded networking among seniors will also be provided.

A Hanwha Life official said, "The senior support project is meaningful in helping retirees perform roles as productive members of society and creating an active retirement culture," adding, "We will take the lead in practicing sharing management by supporting seniors in preparing for their second act in life, fitting for the era of 100-year lifespans."