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Four AI (artificial intelligence) startups selected for the first tech cohort of Woori Financial Group’s startup collaboration program, “Dino Lab,” have officially begun open innovation PoC (proof of concept) projects with group affiliates. The Tech 1st cohort startups will each take on an AX (AI transformation) project assigned by one of four affiliates—Woori Bank, Dongyang Life Insurance, Woori Investment & Securities, and Woori FIS—and proceed with verification for four to five months.
According to Woori Financial Group’s Dino Lab on the 19th, they began collaborating with affiliates after being selected as Tech 1st cohort startups last month (September). Unlike the previous method of selecting promising companies to assess open innovation potential, the Tech 1st cohort was chosen through a “project-first” approach, where group business divisions first proposed projects and then sought startups capable of solving them. The selection evaluation also placed a 70% weight on “project execution capability.”
What PoC Projects Are the Four Selected Startups Working On?
First, Mentat has agreed to develop a customer tax-saving guide solution with Woori Bank. Mentat is a startup that has developed an AX platform supporting corporate decision-making based on regulations such as laws and internal rules. Leveraging this technology, the company plans to create an AI agent specialized in the latest tax laws and provide customers with the ability to link their asset data to run tax-saving simulations. Mentat has previously conducted similar PoC projects with law firms and other financial institutional investors.
Axelerator will develop a market sensing system for Dongyang Life Insurance. Axelerator is a startup that has developed AI and AX solutions specialized in the insurance domain, optimized for network separation environments. The company recorded sales of 2.4 billion won last year. Axelerator plans to automatically collect and analyze data from industry public disclosures, product terms, and other sources, map heterogeneous terminology, and provide reports for Dongyang Life Insurance’s insurance product development.
Waker Holdings will develop a business support solution with Woori Investment & Securities for tasks such as summarizing market conditions and generating reports for analysts. Waker Holdings is a startup that has developed a solution supplying “AI-ready data,” enabling AI to immediately use raw stock market data, and has raised a cumulative 20 billion won in investment. The company was founded in the United States and subsequently relocated its headquarters to Korea through a reverse flip.
Picab Labs is set to supply an AI solution for report writing support to Woori FIS. Picab Labs is developing an AI agent called “Scoopy” that connects corporate internal documents with business systems. The company plans to achieve results in this collaboration based on its commercial product, which is already generating revenue.
“So It Doesn’t Remain a One-Time Event…”
Woori Financial will provide project execution support funds of up to 30 million won and other collaboration support funds to the selected companies, as well as investment opportunities through dedicated Dino Lab funds, among others. Additionally, Dino Lab partners such as the Gwanak Small and Medium Business Promotion Agency, Naver Cloud, Korea Growth Finance, and Seoul National University Technology Holding have agreed to provide space, cloud usage credits, and investment networks.
In particular, Dino Lab plans to seek additional collaborations with other affiliates so that this matching and collaboration do not remain a one-time event. To this end, it also received collaboration proposals from the four startups regarding group affiliates. Accordingly, Mentat and Axelerator proposed applying their technologies to the standardization of terms for the integrated legal entity of Dongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance, as well as to products and benefits. Waker Holdings proposed a market briefing service for banking and card apps, while Picab Labs proposed agents for credit review and compliance audits.
Dino Lab plans to continue proactively driving open innovation between Woori Financial Group and startups in the future. It is also considering conducting ongoing recruitment of startups according to open innovation demand within group affiliates. At the Tech 1st cohort launch ceremony last month (September), Vice Chairman Ok Il-jin of Woori Financial Holdings stated, “We will spare no effort to ensure that challenges bear fruit as substantial business value.”
[MoneyToday Startup Media Platform Unicorn Factory]
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