The Korea Federation of SMEs Selects 'Proud Small Business Person' for Q1 2024
The Korea Federation of SMEs and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 19th that Kim Dong-seop, CEO of Hyodong Machinery Industry, and Kim Jae-joong, CEO of Rapichi, were selected as the "Proud Small and Medium Enterprise Entrepreneurs" for the first quarter of this year.
Kim Dong-seop, CEO of Hyodong Machinery Industry
Hyodong Machinery Industry is a company that manufactures metal forming machines. Since founding the company in 1983, CEO Kim Dong-seop has devoted himself to technological development, growing Hyodong Machinery Industry into a leading company in the advancement of the machinery industry. As a result of research and development, the company developed the 2200-ton ultra-large forging machine Former in 2018, the hot former in 2019, and recently the Link Former for carbon-neutral energy savings, acquiring 26 domestic patents and 2 overseas patents.
They have expanded into overseas markets such as Japan, China, and Germany, receiving the $30 million Export Tower award in 2019 and achieving an annual export amount of 40.3 billion KRW in 2022. CEO Kim Dong-seop also serves as a director of the Korea Machinery Industry Promotion Association, leading the promotion of the machinery industry and exchanges between companies, and was awarded the Gold Tower Industrial Medal in 2021 in recognition of his contributions to the development of the machinery industry.
Kim Jaejoong, CEO of Rapich
Rapichi is a company that provides conversational AI services and voice recognition AI services. CEO Kim Jae-joong has supplied AI virtual personal assistant services and voice authentication AI services to major telecommunications companies and financial sector call centers, based on over 20 years of research and development in the field of voice recognition. Rapichi's sales grew significantly from 6.8 billion KRW in 2021 to 17 billion KRW last year, and the company is preparing to enter the overseas AI market based on technological exchanges and advancements with domestic and international big tech companies.
The "Proud Small and Medium Enterprise Entrepreneur" award is a system by the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to discover and reward outstanding entrepreneurs who have contributed to national industrial development through management rationalization, export increase, technological development, and more, aiming to promote exemplary SME entrepreneurs. The next application period is scheduled for next month.
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