[For more diverse corporate information on startups, you can view it on the Unicorn Factory big data platform 'Data Lab'.]
"If you join Woori Financial Group's 'Dinno Lab,' it is best to understand that you hold an entry ticket to anything. Through various collaborations with Dinno Lab, we will create mutual synergy and help startups continue to reside in Gwanak S-Valley while growing stably."
Kim Jun-hak, director of the Gwanak Small and Medium Business Venture Promotion Agency, said this at the 'Dinno Lab Tech Center Partners Day' held on the 6th at Dinno Lab Tech Center in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, adding, "Gwanak-gu considered how to activate local spaces by utilizing its excellent human and youth resources, and ultimately chose 'activation of the startup ecosystem' as the answer."
Dinno Lab (Digital Innovation Lab) is Woori Financial's startup acceleration program that carries the meaning of "helping small startups grow like big dinosaurs." It currently operates hubs in six locations domestically and one overseas, for a total of seven sites, and has discovered and nurtured 235 companies to date.
The tech center newly opened in Gwanak-gu last month is a hub dedicated to PoC (Proof of Concept) for deep tech startups. Based on the Dinno Lab network, it serves as a space that becomes the starting point for open innovation experiments by directly connecting technology tasks from Woori Financial affiliates with the technological capabilities of startups.
The differentiator of the tech center lies in its collaboration method. While existing Dinno Lab programs first discovered promising companies and then sought business cooperation, the tech center adopted a 'task-first presentation' model that first defines the technology tasks to be solved by group company operational departments and then finds partners to solve them.
Four AI (Artificial Intelligence) startups were selected for the first cohort of Dinno Lab Tech: △Mentat △Accelerator △Waker Holdings △Picaboo Labs. They are each matched one-on-one with Woori Bank, Dongyang Life Insurance, Woori Investment & Securities, and Woori FIS (Financial Information Services) to conduct PoCs.
Local Government, Universities, Cloud, and Venture Capital Gather in One Place
This event was attended by more than 20 people, including representatives from the Gwanak Small and Medium Business Venture Promotion Agency, Gwanak-gu Office, Seoul National University Campus Town, Seoul National University Technology Holding, Naver Cloud, Korea Growth Finance, and external investment firms such as △Friend Investment Partners △SJ Investment Partners △Shinyoung Securities △Wonik Investment Partners and Murex Partners.
This is significant in that the external partner ecosystem centered on the Dinno Lab Tech Center has gathered in one place for the first time. It adds further meaning by establishing a structure that connects local government startup foundations, university technology and talent, cloud company infrastructure, and policy finance and VC (Venture Capital) venture capital into one.
Woori Financial Group plans to expand the function of the Dinno Lab Tech Center from one-on-one PoCs between affiliates and startups to a united ecosystem that supports the entire growth process of companies.
Naver Cloud announced plans to link its startup support program, 'Greenhouse,' with Dinno Lab companies. This is a structure that goes beyond providing cloud infrastructure to verify Product-Market Fit (PMF) and promote joint Go-To-Market (GTM).
Companies residing in the Dinno Lab Tech Center are recognized as having passed the basic infrastructure track of Greenhouse. Subsequently, they can enter the market verification and GTM stages through separate review.
Park Woo-cheol, Naver Cloud Manager, said, "The basic direction of the program is to reduce mutual time waste while quickly finding teams to collaborate with," adding, "We will focus on market verification with companies whose goals align, and strengthen cooperation up to GTM and investment with companies that have completed verification."
"Connecting from PoC to Commercialization and Investment"
On the venture capital side, Korea Growth Finance and Seoul National University Technology Holding shared follow-up investment strategies. Jung Jong-ho of Korea Seong Jang-geum-yung (Head) told startups, "You must look not only at the investment amount but also at the investor's purpose and fund maturity," adding, "You must understand that funds are structured to be able to receive new contributions only after recovery."
Choi Hyeon-hee of Seoul National University Gi Sul-ji-ju (Team Lead) emphasized, "If the technology and team are excellent, we will invest actively," stating, "We will create a virtuous cycle where universities do not stop at researching technology but contribute to the national economy through commercialization, and investment results flow back into university R&D."
Seoul National University Technology Holding is also operating a regional fund of 1.6 billion won established with contributions from Gwanak-gu. This year, it additionally formed 30 billion won in the fintech, bio, and deep tech fields, and plans to newly form a fintech fund by the end of the year. He said, "We will discover and nurture good companies through synergy with Dinno Lab and the Gwanak Promotion Agency."
On the occasion of this event, △Gwanak-gu and the Gwanak Small and Medium Business Venture Promotion Agency solidified their commitment to take charge of space, sales channels, and public verification; △Seoul National University to technology, talent, and investment; △Naver Cloud to infrastructure and market entry; and △Korea Growth Finance and private investment firms to follow-up investment linkage.
Based on cooperation with these partners, Woori Financial aims to grow the Dinno Lab Tech Center into a collaboration hub that connects not just residency and nurturing spaces, but also growth after financial sector PoCs.
A Woori Financial official said, "It is significant that institutional investors with different support capabilities gathered for the first time to discuss the growth path of Dinno Lab companies together," adding, "We will create an ecosystem that connects local government, universities, technology companies, and venture capital, leading from verification to commercialization and investment."
[MoneyToday startup media platform 'Unicorn Factory']
in FUTURE
