After Heo Tae-soo's Inauguration, GS Shouts 'New to Big', Accelerating New Business Discovery with Innovative Startups

The 2nd 'The GS Challenge' Held
Fostering and Discovering Energy Tech Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Since Chairman Heo Tae-soo's inauguration, GS has been actively pursuing the discovery of eco-friendly future new businesses through identifying and nurturing innovative startups that will open a sustainable future.

GS announced that it will recruit energy tech startups to participate in the second phase of 'The GS Challenge' program until the 12th of next month.

'The GS Challenge' is an accelerating program created by GS Group to discover and nurture innovative startups that will work together to build a sustainable future. Following the first phase focused on biotech (BT) startups, the second phase will recruit energy tech (ET) startups based on future energy technologies.

Under the theme of 'Creating a Sustainable Future with Next-Generation Energy Technology,' this challenge is the first program to select tech startups in the next-generation energy sector, conducted in collaboration with its affiliate GS Energy and tech startup accelerator Bluepoint Partners (BPP).

As the global energy transition accelerates, GS is recruiting pre-seed and early-stage startups based on energy technology in three areas to discover eco-friendly future energy tech startups demanded by customers and society: ▲carbon capture/utilization and circular economy ▲next-generation energy production and management ▲electric vehicles and hydrogen economy.

The energy tech startups selected this time will enjoy various benefits, as in the first phase, increasing their potential to lead to future commercialization.

In particular, they can apply their products, technologies, and services to energy infrastructure such as power plants and chargers of GS Energy affiliates, and utilize infrastructures like GS Caltex Technology Research Institute to test commercialization through a test bed. Additionally, acceleration and mentoring with experts in each field will be supported, and they can participate in various networking and investment attraction opportunities in the future.

Applications can be submitted through the official website, and after submitting business plans by the 12th of next month and undergoing evaluation, selected teams will participate in a five-month acceleration program from November to March next year.

Since Chairman Heo's inauguration, GS has focused on discovering and nurturing startups. Upon his inauguration last year, Chairman Heo emphasized strengthening digital capabilities and discovering future businesses. Earlier this year, he said, "New businesses should expand opportunities across various fields such as eco-friendly and mobility sectors integrated with digital technology, and through open innovation collaborating with startups and venture capital, we should find new opportunities and develop GS's investment capabilities to create different businesses from before, pursuing the 'New to Big' strategy."

Accordingly, GS has selected climate change, AI tech, bio, new commerce, and smart architecture as key investment areas, actively encouraging investment and fostering new growth engines across the group. In addition, through startup investments, GS focuses on observing customers and markets to capture opportunities, while actively engaging in venture capital investments to discover and nurture innovative startups.