Two Gyeonggi Startups Selected as 'Technology Pioneer' Startups by World Economic Forum

What do Google, PayPal, Airbnb, and Twitter have in common?

In addition to being technology companies that have revolutionized industries with products and services trusted by millions to hundreds of millions of users, they all share another distinction: each has been selected as a 'Technology Pioneer' startup by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Gyeonggi Province announced on July 6 that two companies based in the province were selected as 'Technology Pioneer' startups at the World Economic Forum held in China last month.

The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC), also known as the 'Summer Davos,' is held every June in China. Each year, the forum selects and announces 100 promising startups from around the world as Technology Pioneers.

The 100 startups selected this year from 28 countries include those specializing in advanced robotics, customized space launch services, microreactors, and accessible quantum computing applications.

From Korea, two outstanding startups from Gyeonggi Province?Robocon (Osan) and Hylium Industries (Pyeongtaek)?were selected. Another Korean company, Naraspace Technology based in Busan, was also named.

Robocon, a smart factory robotics company, is exporting its robotic automation solution, ARON, to countries such as Singapore and Italy. As Korea's first smart factory company specializing in rebar processing, Robocon is also seeking to participate in Saudi Arabia's massive construction initiative, the NEOM City project.

Hylium Industries is actively participating in domestic and international hydrogen mobility demonstration projects, leveraging its technological capabilities that span the entire hydrogen ecosystem, including cryogenic tanks for liquefied hydrogen storage and transportation.

Both companies attended the Summer Davos Forum as part of the Gyeonggi Province delegation, recommended by the Gyeonggi 4th Industrial Revolution Center, and have become members of the global innovator community. Over the next two years, they will receive support from the Gyeonggi 4th Industrial Revolution Center and have the opportunity to participate in the World Economic Forum's global network.

Additionally, Naraspace Technology has been selected as the system integrator and satellite manufacturer for the climate satellite project promoted by Gyeonggi Province, and is expected to create synergy through close cooperation in the future.

The Summer Davos Forum held in China last June

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi 4th Industrial Revolution Center, established in Pangyo earlier this year through collaboration between Gyeonggi Province and the World Economic Forum, is developing an innovation community program exclusively for Korean startups?the first of its kind for a single country in partnership with the World Economic Forum.

This program, tentatively named 'Korea Frontiers' and set to launch later this year, will annually select 20 to 30 leading startups in Korea to participate in World Economic Forum events, while also involving them in various community initiatives led by the Gyeonggi 4th Industrial Revolution Center.

The programs jointly promoted by the Gyeonggi 4th Industrial Revolution Center and the World Economic Forum are not one-off funding or events. Instead, they focus on discovering leading domestic startups, building a community, and providing opportunities for collaboration with startups worldwide.

Bae Youngsang, Director of Digital Innovation at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The pace and impact of AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution are so rapid and significant that how we respond over the next five or ten years could fundamentally shape what we look like a century from now. I hope that the top-tier information and global network of the Gyeonggi 4th Industrial Revolution Center will be widely utilized not only by companies in Gyeonggi Province, but also by businesses nationwide, as well as by the central and local governments, research institutions, and universities."

The World Economic Forum is an international nonprofit private organization where leaders from governments, businesses, academia, and civil society gather to discuss and seek solutions to major global economic and social issues. It holds its annual meeting, known as the Davos Forum, every January in Davos, Switzerland.