Our university held a meeting with Venture Capital (VC) representatives to expand startups and technology commercialization for two days starting May 2 at Lotte City Hotel Daejeon.
Organized by ITVC, this event provided a platform for our university faculty and VC representatives to build networks. The event, which was launched in November 2021 to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit and strengthen the capabilities of faculty interested in founding startups and technology commercialization, celebrated its 6th event. This event saw the participants from 10 numbers of Series A, B. C funders and early-stage VC firms including Mirae Technology Holdings, Bluepoint Partners, Sunbo Angel Partners, Atinum Investment, KAIST Youth Startup Investment Holdings, Kite Entrepreneurship Foundation, Company K Partners, POSCO Technology Investment, Primer Sazze Partners, and DSC Investment.
Eight faculty members from our university attended: Professor Donggyu Kim (Physics), Professor Minhyeok Kim (School of Computing), Professor Sejong Kim (Department of Management Engineering), Professor Yoonki Kim (Department of Biological Sciences), Professor Jinwoo Kim (Department of Biological Sciences), Professor Sunggap Im (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering), Professor Sangyong Jeon (Department of Biological Sciences), and Professor Dongsu Ha (Graduate School of Mobility).
On the first day of the two-day ‘KAIST DCM Workshop’, Mr. Yohan Kim, Executive Director of DSC Investment, presented on ‘Current Status and Direction of Bio Industry Investments,’ followed by a presentation from Mr. Jonghoon Oh, CEO of Sunbo Angel Partners, on ’Preparation for Investment and Coping with Business Crisis.‘
On the second day of the event, Professors who attended the event were divided into two groups based on entrepreneurship experience and startup stage. Each group received tailored consultation on early-stage technology commercialization and investment attraction strategies.
They shared commercialization ideas for advanced technologies being researched and discussed strategies and investment plans for technology startups, new industry exploration, technology transfer, strategic investment partnerships, and business simulations.
Keon Jae Lee, Director of ITVC overseeing the event, expressed hopes that the DCM would facilitate networking between VC representatives and professors, leading to successful technology commercialization outcomes for many faculty startups.
Additionally, Sungwan Kim, Director of the Industry-Academia Cooperation Center, stated, "Through future DCM events, we aim to strengthen systematic investment support platforms tailored to various stages of business growth (Pre-seed/Angel, Seed, Series A, B, C) and expand programs to attract global investments.“