Medical aesthetic specialist company Hugel announced on the 17th that it will promote open innovation together with Shinhan Financial Group.
Hugel is participating in a program operated by 'Shinhan Square Bridge,' Shinhan Financial Group's startup nurturing platform, and is recruiting startups with technologies or innovative utilization plans that have strategic linkage potential with Hugel until the 30th.
The recruitment fields and technologies include ▲energy-based beauty medical devices ▲next-generation fillers and skin boosters ▲cosmeceuticals. After document screening and in-depth interviews, the finally selected startups will engage in various collaboration discussions such as reviewing commercialization plans and business models, and PoC (proof of concept) for about 11 weeks.
Since 2016, Hugel has accumulated experience and know-how in open innovation through the private investment-led technology startup support program 'TIPS,' hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. After being selected as a bio-specialized operator, it has supported 10 venture companies to date and attracted a total of 42.2 billion KRW in follow-up investments.
Based on its high understanding of the startup ecosystem accumulated through TIPS, Hugel plans to actively promote its open innovation strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of its existing core businesses such as botulinum toxin and fillers, while expanding new portfolios in the medical aesthetic field. In particular, from a long-term perspective, it aims to build a business model capable of globalization to provide more professional and practical support.
A Hugel official said, "Since Hugel also started and grew as a bio venture, we plan to provide various opportunities and support to startups without hesitation," adding, "We hope to create mutual synergy by combining differentiated ideas with Hugel’s commercialization know-how and clinical capabilities."
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