"Creating a Sustainable Future Innovation Growth Ecosystem in the Construction Industry"
On the 17th at KINTEX in Ilsan, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and startup representatives shared collaboration insights between large corporations and startups through a talk show at the '2024 Hyundai Engineering & Construction Open Innovation Day.'
Hyundai Engineering & Construction is expanding its startup growth platform to create a sustainable construction innovation ecosystem.
On the 17th, Hyundai Engineering & Construction held the ‘2024 Hyundai Engineering & Construction Open Innovation Day’ at KINTEX in Ilsan during the ‘2024 Korea Construction Safety Expo.’ The Korea Construction Safety Expo is the only specialized domestic exhibition in construction safety, where key institutions, companies, and major domestic and international buyers related to smart construction and industrial safety gather to share cutting-edge technologies and the latest trends in the construction safety field.
Following last year, Hyundai Engineering & Construction operated the ‘Hyundai Engineering & Construction Open Innovation Joint Pavilion’ again this year, providing discovered startups with opportunities to promote their technologies. Twelve startups participated in this joint pavilion exhibition, including JD Solution (directional sound speakers), WorksMate (non-face-to-face brokerage platform for construction workers), and Saeim (smart remote education solutions for construction sites), introducing innovative construction technologies.
Especially, to expand growth opportunities for startups, the Open Innovation Day (Demo Day) was held for the first time this year, attended by about 100 people including 18 startups, and representatives from startup support and cooperation organizations such as the Seoul Business Agency, Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development, Seoul Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Korea Technology Venture Foundation, and Hanyang University, fostering active exchanges.
Focusing on smart construction technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and information and communication technology (ICT) convergence, future housing, and digital healthcare sectors, various sessions such as startup IR pitching, introduction of successful collaboration cases between Hyundai Engineering & Construction and startups, and talk shows were conducted. These sessions shared not only the innovative technologies of discovered startups but also collaboration insights between large corporations and startups based on actual experience and know-how.
The companies participating in this Open Innovation Day included 11 startups selected through the 2024 Hyundai Engineering & Construction Open Innovation Contest (Seoul Dynamics, Brickon Lab, Dogu Space, AM Autonomy, Sunny Wave Tech, The Miracle Soft, Korea Green Data, Freak Tech, Applaze, High Core Tech, D.A. Lab), 5 startups selected through the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ Startup Leap Package support project ‘Large Corporation Collaboration Type’ (Data Knows, Y Power One, Bio Connect, JH Global, A Labs), and 2 startups (Sixty Hertz, Saeim) currently conducting follow-up projects after selection.
Since 2022, Hyundai Engineering & Construction has actively participated in various open innovation support projects, including the ‘Hyundai Engineering & Construction x Seoul Startup Open Innovation’ contest, to foster a co-growth ecosystem within the construction industry and promote in-house innovation based on open innovation. Through this, a total of 35 startups have been selected in 2024 alone, and follow-up collaborations such as technology verification programs, joint research and development, joint commercialization, and new product development are underway.
A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official stated, “This event was meaningful as it introduced the excellent technologies and services of startups discovered by Hyundai Engineering & Construction to construction industry stakeholders and the public, and also shared the achievements of Hyundai Engineering & Construction’s open innovation.” He added, “We will continue to accelerate future innovative growth through various supports such as scale-up, investment attraction, and incubating to co-grow with startups.”
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