The latest edition of Slush, which for the second time after the Pandemic brought up to 20k people to the exhibition center of Helsinki, had representatives from startups and the investor communities of different countries. One group which was well represented and organised was the Korean Startup Pavilion.
Korean Institute of Startups and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) had brought 20 Korean startups to Helsinki.
KISED which is a public institution under the Ministry of SMEs and Start-ups is responsible for the promotion of Korean start-ups. Since its establishment in 2008, it has supported more than 60,000 start-ups and has taken hundreds of start-ups to international events, such as Websummit and Slush.
Below is a summary of the start-ups in the Korean pavilion;
Avirtual
The company has innovated a new medical device steriliser which uses air circulation to sterilise devices used in surgeries or dental care. The start-up claims that its method is superior to existing sterilisation techniques, such as EO gas, plasma or steam. The method uses OEH radicals with high efficiency to achieve a simple process of disinfection. The device does not need water, harmful gases or other solutions. One of the main target groups of this product is dental clinics and A Virtual already has several contracts with them.
AimbeLAB
This is start-up has innovated an IOT device and an app which can be used for monitoring feed in farms. The IOT device, which is installed inside a feed silo, collects data on feed quantity, consumption rate, consumption pattern, and feed contamination. This monitoring of feed data in real time can help farms mitigate problems of feeding patterns and waste, resulting in increased productivity.
Bottless
Bottless wants to disrupt plastic bottling and packaging industry of cosmetics and detergents. The company uses natural rubber i.e. a rubber balloon and a paper box instead of a plastic bottle. The components of this packaging take 6 to 30 months to decompose, while plastic bottles take up to 500 years to completely decompose in nature. Also as the package is ”airless” the content of the balloon is completely extracted and nothing goes to waste.
Coconut Silo
A Hyundai spinoff company, this start-up has an innovation in the field of logistics/commercial vehicle mobility. The advanced freight logistics platform, Cocotruck connects all types of players in the logistics market into a single place. Using big data, the solution enhances efficiency and helps companies manage their resources digitally via a SAAS software.
Corevalue
This start-up has invented a mobile handheld camera, which can be used to take images of the mouth, ears, nose and skin of patients at home and transmit them to doctors or nurses for telehealth diagnosis. The device can also be used for self-examination.
CRTLab
The company aims at solving problems with branding and corporate logos by matching designers and designs to corporate orientation. The platform uses AI and human moderation to automatically generate logos, corporate branding reports and branding designs.
DDIBS
Using machine learning and dynamic price algorithms this platform helps sellers perform a pre-sales market research to find out where their customers are and what they need. The platform also helps sellers find the right price for their products.
inDJ
inDJ is a music streaming radio application, which uses numerous data inputs to detect users' emotions and suggest the right music for the right mood. The company is focusing on K-pop and K-pop fans globally. The data used ranges from weather conditions to vehicle information.
KEVIT
KEVIT has a software/hardware solution for EV charging stations. The clients can set a price based on the kilowatt-hour usage or time and publish their charging stations online through the Kevit platform. EV charging business is growing rapidly and there is a need for wholesome plug-and-play solutions.
LBStech
The company has built a walkway data collecting and sales platform, which can be used for robot delivery services and other clients who need to use the walkways of the cities. The Way platform collects multiple walkway data, including accessibility and obstacle information.
Lighters Company
This startup was presenting its KOOKy platform in Slush. Kooky is a K-pop platform and community space made specifically for international K-pop fans. One unique service offered by the platform is fan-planed and fan-supported projects. Among others, the platform helps international fans hold events. The platform consists of an application, website, artist consultancy, data-driven concert, and content from partnered creators and artists.
Mediaiplus
This start-up has built a matching service between pharmaceutical companies and clinical trial partners. Finding partners for clinical trials is a difficult task which is at the moment performed by using websites or personal connections. This is both time and resource-consuming. Mediaplus’s FICRO collects information from CROs who can fulfil the requests of pharmaceutical companies. The startup is offering a matching service between CROs and companies that need to conduct clinical trials.
Mobilio
Operating heavy vehicles is dangerous to the surroundings as the drivers and operators do not have good visibility in all directions. The moving hydraulic parts of the machines can easily end up injuring or killing workers or bystanders. There are over a thousand injuries and tens of deaths each year. Mobilio aims at mitigating this problem with a high-tech package of sensors and alarms which can be retrofitted to any heavy machinery.
Next Meta
Educational videos are being used more frequently than ever to teach or instruct students or anyone on any topic. These videos are mostly a one-sided communication. Next Meta is providing a tool to transform a traditional 20 -40 minute video into short interactive episodes. Teachers can use the content builder to create a lesson.
Paprika
One of the problems of running a survey online is motivating the target group to participate by rewarding them while promising anonymity. Paprika aims at solving this problem by being the middleman and using disposable information wallets making it possible to reward the survey participants, or even ask them follow-up questions without revealing their identity.
RebuilderAI
Scanning objects to form 3D images have both industrial and entertainment uses. The most common method used by 3D scanners is LIDAR which is slow and not always accurate. This startup however has built an AI tool which can build a 3D image of any object and remove the floor via a video on your phone in 3 minutes.
Rolling Seeds
This startup wants to mitigate the problem of families not having enough analogue fun anymore cause everyone is mostly playing video games. The result is a UX PLAY-based edutainment game for children and families which combines an app on any screen and a physical box with RFID-tagged chips to play an engaging but educational game.
Rudder
There are several dating apps in the market but if you want to find friends, not many options are available. Rudder wants to change that by providing an app with verified accounts for those who want a buddy for going out for a drink or joining a hobby. The current market focus of Rudder is colleges and universities and the pilot market in London has been promising.
SicPama
QR code menus have been in the market for quite a while now, but there are deficiencies in them that SicPama aims at solving. With their platform, you can see which menu items your friends are interested in and also split the bill or even offer to pay all.
Sunny Side Up
Korea has been well-known for its cosmetics, and pet care can benefit from that. The company provides a service and product intended to help consumers have direct access to vets, diagnosis and advice for their pets. Additionally, the start-up is marketing, a customised skincare ointment based on pets' skin conditions. Take a photo of your pet’s skin, upload it and get the diagnosis and customised ointment.
The Korean startups at Slush participated in their own pitching competition where judges from international startup media, including The Helsinki Times ranked the companies based on innovation, marketability and other criteria. The winners were:
- Coconut Silo,
- Next Meta
- Aimbelab
HT
