Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry·BNK Gyeongnam Bank Host Gyeongnam Intellectual Property Festival

The Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Gyeongnam, in celebration of Changwon Business Week, held the '2023 Gyeongnam Intellectual Property Festival,' the largest event in the province for fostering local startups and youth entrepreneurship, on the 2nd at the Changwon Convention Center in collaboration with BNK Gyeongnam Bank.

Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Gyeongnam Bank jointly held the Gyeongnam Intellectual Property Festival.

Sponsored by 37 organizations including the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Changwon Special City, and the Gyeongnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration, the festival opened with a ceremony featuring MOUs between senior companies, startup support organizations, and awardees, as well as an agreement between the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry and BNK Gyeongnam Bank to support local startup growth.

Following this, the Startup IR Competition with a total prize of 44 million KRW and the Gyeongnam Youth Commercialization Idea Contest awards ceremony and investment presentations by winning companies were held.

The grand prize of the 2023 Gyeongnam Startup IR Competition was awarded to Kickthehuddlers, who received the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry President’s Award and a prize of 10 million KRW.

Kickthehuddlers is a company diversifying its revenue model with the goal of developing the only integrated platform in Korea, based on five H&B (Health & Beauty) brands and 4 million users in the global digital healthcare market valued at 826 trillion KRW.

As part of this, they operate a personalized health management solution called 'Fitamin.' Since its establishment in 2018, the company has recorded an average annual growth rate of 214% over the past five years, making it one of the fastest-growing companies domestically. Recently, it was ranked first in the domestic bio-healthcare sector among Asia-Pacific high-growth companies in 2023 by the UK Financial Times.

The special award, the Gyeongsangnam-do Governor’s Award, was given to CTNS, and the Gyeongnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration Commissioner’s Award was presented to Dunb.

Additionally, the grand prize of the Gyeongnam Youth Startup Idea Commercialization Contest was awarded to Minjung Yoon, who received the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry President’s Award and a prize of 2 million KRW. The Gyeongsangnam-do Governor’s Award (special prize) went to Yechan Kim, and the Gyeongnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration Commissioner’s Award (special prize) was given to Kwangil Kim.

Gu Jacheon, President of the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated, “The Gyeongnam Intellectual Property Festival is an event designed to encourage and support local youth entrepreneurship and the growth of startups,” adding, “Through MOUs with senior companies and other efforts, we will provide more support to help startups grow and leap into unicorn companies.”