Seoul City-IBK Industrial Bank, 'Excellent Fintech Company Commercialization Support' Business Agreement... Infrastructure and Network Linkage

'Fintech Lab Resident Companies' Innovative Technologies' Validated and Launched as Official Services

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul Metropolitan Government and IBK Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) are collaborating to ensure that the innovative technologies and ideas of companies residing in the ‘Seoul Fintech Lab’ can be commercialized and launched as services in the actual financial industry field.

On the 9th, Seoul Metropolitan Government and IBK announced that they will sign a 'Business Agreement to Support Commercialization of Excellent Fintech Companies' on the 10th. The agreement includes ▲supporting testbeds for commercialization of fintech companies’ technologies and ideas ▲recommendation of excellent fintech companies and mentoring to support cooperation between fintech companies and financial institutions ▲exchange and cooperation for the development of the fintech industry.

This support will be carried out through collaboration between ‘Seoul Fintech Lab,’ the largest dedicated fintech startup support space in Korea located in Yeouido and operated by Seoul Metropolitan Government, and IBK’s fintech testbed ‘IBK 1st Lab.’

The goal is to open growth opportunities for promising fintech startups by combining the fintech company support infrastructure, networks, know-how, and resources possessed by the public sector and traditional financial institutions. ‘IBK 1st Lab’ is an IBK innovation testbed established in September 2019 that discovers excellent companies and supports verification through testing to introduce various external innovative technologies and ideas into the bank.

In connection with IBK’s ‘IBK 1st Lab,’ a dedicated testbed space equipped with office and collaboration areas will be supported within ‘Seoul Fintech Lab,’ and the entire process of demonstration for business model commercialization will be administratively backed. Selected startups will undergo a process where IBK’s operational departments test whether their innovative technologies and ideas can be applied in the financial field. If the demonstration is successful, opportunities such as official service launch, partnerships and collaborations, and investment attraction will be provided.

Furthermore, Seoul Metropolitan Government and IBK will continuously promote the discovery of excellent fintech companies and demonstration opportunities based on this business agreement. They also plan to jointly operate various programs such as consulting and advisory services for companies wishing to collaborate with the financial sector to develop collaboration models. Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to continue systematic support so that fintech companies with potential can increase their corporate recognition and grow sustainably through digital technology partnerships and collaborations with the financial sector.

Meanwhile, ‘Seoul Fintech Lab’ has established itself as a fintech hub by achieving sales of 57.9 billion KRW and investment attraction of 40.8 billion KRW from resident companies in the first half of this year alone. Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Seoul’s Economic Policy Office, said, "Through cooperation between the two institutions, we will proactively discover promising excellent companies and actively support business partnerships, market development, and investment attraction." He added, "Seoul will continue to connect the fintech startup nurturing infrastructure, networks, and know-how possessed by the public and private sectors to propel Yeouido as the Asian fintech center."