Labor ministry-backed Polytech college hosts startup pitch finals for 21 teams

Korea Polytechnics said it held the finals of its 10th venture startup item competition at its Daejeon campus, where 21 teams selected from 168 applicants pitched ideas built on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, semiconductors and robotics.

The college split the contest into a Polytech League for its own students and graduates and a High School League for high school students and out-of-school teenagers. Twelve Polytech teams and nine high school teams reached the final round after a document review and online preliminary.

This year's finalists leaned heavily on AI applied to social problems. The entries included a system that uses AI to predict ocean acidification and damage to fish farms, an AI service that handles preliminary consultations for public complaints, and an AI disaster alert service based on audible frequencies.

The college ran two days of startup mentoring for the finalists on Sept. 19 and 20, opening with a lecture by the founder of a robotics company who shared hands-on experience. A mentoring panel of angel investors, startup coaches and youth entrepreneurship instructors then worked with each team on refining technology, adjusting marketability and revenue models, polishing presentation materials and understanding intellectual property rights.

Three grand prize teams receive awards from the ministers of employment and labor and of SMEs and startups, four gold prize teams receive the chairman's award, and six silver and eight bronze prize teams receive awards from sponsoring organizations including the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development and the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. The 16 teams eliminated in the preliminary round receive encouragement awards. Support grants for the competition total 16.4 million won ($12,349).

"Items in which students and young people find problems for themselves and build answers with technology are highly likely to work in industrial settings," said Lee Chul-soo, chairman of Korea Polytechnics. He said the college would tighten support spanning idea discovery, mentoring and commercialization so that young people can take on technological startups without hesitation.