KAIST "Major Startup Companies Valued Over 10 Trillion Won in the Last 4 Years"

KAIST announced on the 14th that the combined value of major startups founded by KAIST alumni has exceeded 10 trillion KRW over the past four years.

During this period, the average annual number of startups founded by KAIST alumni was 110, with 20 companies going public. Notably, last year, four startups in the bio and robotics sectors, including Angel Robotics, Tomocube, and iBeam Technology, all achieved public listings.

Since 2021, KAIST has improved its internal startup system and introduced startup-friendly programs, efforts that are evaluated to have led to the activation of entrepreneurship not only in the Daejeon region but also at the national level.

Provided by KAIST

KAIST has simplified the startup approval process by abolishing steps such as faculty startup review and president approval procedures, and focused on improving practical startup conditions by expanding the allowable leave of absence period for students preparing startups from the previous four semesters to an indefinite period.

KAIST also operated startup programs. Fast Prototyping is a representative startup program run by KAIST that helped with prototype production and matching with external experts. Established in 2023, this program has supported 16 companies to date. According to KAIST, startups participating in the program were able to reduce the prototype production period from around two years (on average) to six months through this support.

To promote domestic startup activation, KAIST has presented innovative startup strategies at the annual "Innovation Startup Nation Korea International Symposium" since 2022. Last year, to overcome the crisis in the bio industry, KAIST hosted the "International Biohealthcare Symposium" and the "Climate Tech National Audition" to respond to and overcome the climate crisis, taking a leading role in solving social issues.

Through these efforts, as of the end of 2023, KAIST has achieved cumulative results including 1,914 startups, total assets of 94 trillion KRW, total sales of 36 trillion KRW, and total employment of 61,230 people.

Provided by KAIST

In particular, Rainbow Robotics, Angel Robotics, and the student startup Lunit are considered representative successful startup cases from KAIST alumni.

Rainbow Robotics, a robotics platform company, was established in February 2011. Based on core technologies of humanoid bipedal robots, the company has steadily expanded its market by researching and developing collaborative robots, mobile robots, mobile dual-arm robots, quadruped robots, and ultra-precision directional mounts. After listing on KOSDAQ in February 2021, it currently has a market capitalization of 5 trillion KRW.

Angel Robotics, founded in 2017, is a robotics company that gained prominence by successfully commercializing wearable robot technology. The company is currently pioneering markets for gait rehabilitation and muscle strength enhancement in medical and industrial fields. Angel Robotics, which went public on KOSDAQ in March last year, currently has a market capitalization of 420 billion KRW.

Lunit, established in 2013, is an AI company in the medical field. It attracted attention as the first AI venture company founded by six KAIST alumni (a first-generation AI company) in Korea. It possesses early diagnostic and personalized treatment solutions applying AI in cancer screening and treatment areas. Listed on KOSDAQ in July 2022, the company currently has a market capitalization of 1.5 trillion KRW.

Baek Hyun-min, head of the KAIST Startup Institute, said, "The KAIST Startup Institute will continue to establish a successful model of a technology startup ecosystem suited to the Korean environment to successfully realize the national tasks of job creation and fostering growth engines."