SKT Supports ESG Startup Growth... Including Global Expansion Assistance

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] SK Telecom is joining forces with leading domestic and international startup ecosystem companies to foster national representative ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) startups.

On the 1st, SK Telecom announced that it is recruiting startups to participate in the ‘ESG Korea 2023’ program, which supports capable startups in their challenges and growth in the ESG field.

SK Telecom announced on the 1st that it will open applications for startups to participate in the 'ESG Korea 2023' program, which supports capable startups in their challenges and growth in the ESG field.
[Photo by SKT]

‘ESG Korea’ is a program that supports startups aiming to solve various social issues by providing diverse ICT-based solutions and helps startups measure ESG performance to establish concrete strategies.

The ‘ESG Korea’ alliance, which selects and supports up to 15 startups annually, includes leading companies and institutions in the domestic and international startup ecosystem such as SKT, Microsoft, SAP, Sopung Ventures, HG Initiative, Venture Square, KAIST-SK Impact Business Center, and Seoul Startup Hub Seongsu Center.

This year, Seoul Social Venture Hub, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation, Daesung Startup Investment, and SK Broadband have joined, bringing the total number of partners to 25.

SKT is in charge of the overall operation of ‘ESG Korea,’ connecting startups with expert groups, investment company officials, and ESG performance measurement institutions, supporting startups to proactively lead from ESG goal setting to service development, market entry, and global expansion.

Companies, investors, and research institutions participating in the ‘ESG Korea’ alliance provide mentoring and management infrastructure as needed to help startups set specific ESG goals.

SKT is publicly recruiting participating startups through the support site set up on SKT’s True Innovation homepage until March 7. After the selection process, the startups will enter a six-month acceleration program starting at the end of April.

Selected startups will receive group-focused mentoring programs tailored to their growth stages, investment-related meetings, and networking opportunities with senior social startup entrepreneurs.

Among the 14 startups that participated in ‘ESG Korea 2022’ last year, eight collaborated with SK Telecom and other SK affiliates. These eight companies have successfully attracted investments.

‘TwoArt,’ which provides visual assistance voice guidance services using a smartphone app, diversified its existing business model by incorporating SKT’s voice recognition-based AI ‘NUGU’ and gained attention domestically and internationally by winning the ‘CES 2023 Innovation Award’ and the Ministry of Science and ICT Award at the ‘2022 Together with Companies Award & CSR Film Festival.’

‘OysterAble,’ which offers recycling separation and reusable container collection circulation solutions, is contributing to the related ecosystem by participating in the ‘Happy Habit’ project with SKT.

‘LightRoot,’ which transformed unused stock of secondary battery separators into high-performance recycled fiber materials and developed high-performance outdoor prototypes, confirmed commercialization potential through investment and collaboration with SK Innovation and SK IE Technology. It won the Excellence Award (Minister of Environment Award) at the ‘Challenge K-Startup 2022 Grand Finals’ and the Grand Prize at the ‘Environmental Startup Competition’ (Minister of Environment Award).

‘ReverseLab,’ which provides academy vehicle sharing services, expanded its service area with support from SKT’s ‘Good Shuttle’ app and AI technology and attracted investment through an ESG fund.

Additionally, ‘BeyondNext,’ which offers a commerce and community platform for vegetarians; ‘DeepVisions,’ which developed fine dust measurement products using AI technology and fine dust; ‘AnyAI,’ which developed food production automation robots; ‘Nae & Company,’ an AI-based eco-friendly MaaS platform company; ‘CabinLab,’ an intelligent energy management platform company; and ‘Naeiruri,’ a regular delivery proxy service for senior delivery workers, have secured investment and laid the foundation for growth.

Um Jong-hwan, head of SK Telecom’s ESG Alliance, said, “With the active participation and support of top experts in the startup field, we were able to provide concrete and visible growth opportunities to startups participating in ‘ESG Korea.’ We plan to continuously expand collaboration with SK group companies and steadily provide opportunities to be recognized on the global stage.”