Seoul City Partners with Shiseido Korea to Discover Promising K-Beauty Companies

Discovering High-Growth Potential Startups Through Open Innovation... Applications Open Until the 18th
Shiseido Directly Selects 5 Startups in Future Promising Technology Fields Including Beauty Tech and Next-Generation Cosmetics

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is launching an open innovation platform and partnering with Shiseido Korea, a Japanese cosmetics manufacturer with a 150-year history, to seek innovative technologies in the beauty sector.

On the 10th, Seoul announced that it plans to promote open innovation centered around Seoul Startup Hub, Seoul's representative startup support institution, aiming for win-win cooperation between large and medium-sized enterprises and startups, and intends to match over 1,000 startups with large and medium-sized enterprises by 2024.

This is the first time a beauty sector manufacturer is participating in open innovation conducted at Seoul Startup Hub. This program is jointly organized by Seoul Startup Hub and Shiseido Korea, with related startup organizations such as the Korea International Trade Association and Seoul Center for Creative Economy & Innovation simultaneously promoting the recruitment of excellent companies. Additionally, cooperation with the Beauty Industry Association and the Korea Beauty Industry Association will be carried out to promote the program and recommend companies among startups affiliated with these associations.

This program, which seeks to discover promising startups, is recruiting companies in five fields until the 18th: beauty tech, beauty devices, beauty medical, eco-friendly, and next-generation cosmetics. Startups wishing to participate can apply through the Startup Plus platform. The recruitment fields are ▲Beauty Tech (beauty tech related to deep learning, natural language processing, etc.) ▲Beauty Devices (skin analysis, radio frequency, iontophoresis, light therapy, etc.) ▲Beauty Medical (skin penetration, wound healing, microneedles, etc.) ▲Eco-friendly (vegan, halal, upcycling, recyclable packaging, etc.) ▲Next-generation Cosmetics (other innovative beauty products).

Company selection will be directly conducted by Shiseido Korea's 'Korea Innovation Center.' Selected companies will receive opportunities for commercialization verification (PoC - Proof of Concept), cooperation in developing new technologies and new products, support for office space at Seoul Startup Hub, and consideration for investment attraction by partner companies, among other follow-up support. Furthermore, based on the commercialization verification results, companies may be considered for follow-up investment by Shiseido Korea. Through Seoul Startup Hub, companies can also receive tailored follow-up support such as ▲commercialization support funds ▲Seoul Startup Hub 'Open Innovation Cooperation Zone' permanent and collaborative spaces ▲global expansion ▲PR and ESG consulting.

Hwang Hak-sang, President of Shiseido Korea, stated, “We will discover innovative K-beauty startups and create successful cases of sustainable mutual growth by integrating Shiseido’s technology.” Kim Young-hwan, Director of Economic and Job Planning at Seoul City, said, “Through Seoul’s open innovation platform, we will foster a private-led startup ecosystem where startups with innovative technologies and existing large and medium-sized enterprises cooperate for mutual growth.”