The I-Startup Unicorn Dream Program, through which the city of Incheon partners with world-class information technology (IT) companies to sharpen the technological edge of local startups, is now producing tangible results in the form of overseas shipments and contracts. It is drawing attention for helping fledgling regional firms clear barriers to foreign markets that they could hardly overcome on their own, by borrowing the technological and managerial resources of global corporations.
 [코리안투데이] An overseas expansion site of a company participating in Incheon’s I-Startup Unicorn Dream Program © 장형임 기자 |
The Incheon Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Chan-dae) announced that companies taking part in the I-Startup Unicorn Dream Program have recently posted a string of achievements in overseas expansion and commercialization.
The program links the technological and managerial capabilities of five global big tech companies — Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM, Siemens and Ansys — with Incheon startups. It provides tailored technical support and expert consulting for each firm and, on that basis, backs their global commercialization step by step. A distinctive feature is that it allows early-stage companies, which typically lack capital and manpower and struggle to handle overseas field testing and market development alone, to work through those challenges on the proven technological foundations of major corporations.
Sheco, a maritime cleanup robot company, completed or entered talks on shipments to three countries, including Taiwan, through its collaboration with Siemens. In the United States, it is preparing demonstrations targeting some 10,000 facilities, and after completing vendor registration with Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, it has built a pipeline of follow-on projects. Using a Siemens-based artificial intelligence (AI) design system, the company sped up its response by country, while cutting the risks and costs of overseas demonstrations through virtual verification based on digital twins.
Greenerlab, a smart-farm and tree-management company, upgraded the operational base for its overseas business with Amazon Web Services technology. It operates equipment at overseas sites remotely without stationing staff on-site, and it entered the coffee belt market after building a continuous-learning system using SageMaker. The number of farms it serves in Kenya rose from one to three. In addition, the company pursued proof-of-concept (PoC) projects with Japanese and Indian firms and signed letters of intent (LOI), and at home it has broadened its commercialization opportunities by concluding tree-management contracts with resorts run by major corporations.
iCaptain, a safety solutions company supported by Microsoft, is enhancing a solution that applies artificial intelligence, digital twins and Microsoft’s SaaS technology to schools to improve the efficiency of safety evacuation, drills and the management of facilities and students. It is also filing one related patent.
TheGPC, which recently had two intellectual property rights transferred to it from Samsung Electronics, has filed two intellectual property rights of its own. The company is in talks aimed at completing a supply contract with the banking sector this August, and it is simultaneously cooperating with an overseas AI content producer while pursuing investment reviews from strategic investors (SI) and early-stage investor relations (IR) activities.
Shin Jong-eun, head of the city’s Industry and Startup Policy Division, said, ‘This is a highly meaningful case in that collaboration with global big tech is further advancing the technological capabilities of Incheon startups and leading to concrete commercialization results such as overseas contract signings,’ adding, ‘Through intensive, company-by-company support, we will provide close assistance so that participating firms can secure references in the global market and grow into unicorn companies.’
지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화코리안브랜드대상 신청 최고경영인대상 신청 소비자만족도대상 신청
<저작권자 ⓒ 코리안투데이(The Korean Today) 무단전재 및 재배포 금지>
