Korea Technology Finance Corporation, SNU Holdings Team Up to Back Early Startups

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six tailored news items for each reader type.

1. Korea Technology Finance Corporation and SNU Holdings to Nurture Unicorn Seedlings Together

- Key points: The Korea Technology Finance Corporation and Seoul National University Holdings will sign a memorandum of understanding on the 6th for joint investment in and financial support for early-stage startups. The two organizations will recommend promising companies from their respective portfolios to each other and will also pursue projects in which they jointly review candidates from the stage of identifying new investment targets. Plans to use the Korea Technology Finance Corporation's venture investment-linked guarantee program are also under serious discussion. Under the program, the fund issues a 100% guarantee to a company that has received venture capital investment, allowing a lender to extend a loan — effectively serving as collateral for early-stage firms that have few assets to pledge.

2. "Outdoor Unit Cooling Technology Cuts Both Fire Risk and Electricity Bills"

- Key points: Venture company AES is simultaneously reducing power consumption and the risk of overheating fires with IESS, a water-spray control device that lowers the temperature of air conditioner outdoor units. Kim Chang-hwa, chief executive of AES, explained that the air conditioning industry had known that spraying water on outdoor units reduces power consumption and improves cooling efficiency, but that no company had turned the idea into a commercial product. In testing by the Korea Testing Certification, power savings of about 49.8% were confirmed, and a nursing hospital in Daegu saw electricity savings of about 19%. Korea Aerospace Industries, LG Hellovision (037560) and Kumho Tire (073240) have installed the product, and inquiries have recently been coming in from semiconductor and AI companies, which use large amounts of electricity.

3. IPO Market Lowers the Bar as Firms Valued at 100 Billion Won Join

- Key points: Optonics, an optical components maker, filed a securities registration statement on the 29th of last month and began the public offering process for a KOSDAQ listing. The indicative price range presented by the company and its underwriter, Korea Investment & Securities, is 10,000 to 12,000 won, which implies a market capitalization of 95.7 billion to 114.8 billion won based on the 9.566 million shares expected to be listed. The Korea Exchange on the 28th of last month approved reviews for Celltrix, Solix and Luxco, which are pursuing mergers with special purpose acquisition companies; their post-merger market capitalizations are 107.9 billion won, 95.7 billion won and 93.6 billion won, respectively. It is the first time in seven months, since Semi TS in February this year, that SPAC merger companies valued at around 100 billion won have cleared the exchange's bar.

4. [Exclusive] Upstage to Handle AI Generation of English Questions for College Entrance Exam

- Key points: Upstage has been selected as the top-ranked bidder for the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation's project to develop AI-based automatic question generation for the English section of the college entrance exam. Thirteen companies took part in the bidding, and the institute assigned 90% of the overall evaluation score to the technical assessment, meaning the outcome was effectively decided on technological capability. The target development date is May next year, and after trial and pilot operation the technology could be used in actual question creation as early as next year's exam. Meanwhile, according to global market research firm Stratistics Market Research Consulting, the AI-based knowledge assessment market is projected to grow from $3.5 billion (about 5 trillion won) in 2026 to $12.7 billion (about 17 trillion won) in 2034.

5. From Walmart to Pharmacy Chains: High-Function K-Beauty Charges Ahead

- Key points: K-beauty is widening its sales channels beyond beauty specialty retailers such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty and big-box stores such as Walmart and Target to global pharmacy chains. Goodai Global's Beauty of Joseon will officially enter PSP Pharma, a large pharmacy chain in Georgia, this month, offering about 20 products including its rice-based sunscreen and ginseng serum. The brand had already entered some 600 stores of the Brazilian pharmacy chain Drogasil. In addition, Dr. Max, Europe's largest pharmacy chain, has created a Korean cosmetics category in the Czech Republic and is selling about 500 products from brands including COSRX and Anua. The industry attributes the trend to growth in the dermocosmetics market, led by differentiated ingredients such as ceramide, cica and PDRN.

6. Non-Bank Lenders Serve More Than 10 Million Customers but Lack Security Budgets and Experts

- Key points: Analysts say government-level support is needed to strengthen personal data protection capabilities among non-bank financial institutions. As of the end of June this year, depositors and borrowers at the nation's 79 savings banks totaled 10,169,270, but individual firms lack budgets and staff. According to information protection disclosures compiled by the Korea Internet & Security Agency, Shinhan Savings Bank and Welcome Savings Bank invested 1.15126 billion won and 3.75182 billion won in information protection last year, respectively, with dedicated security staff of just 6.1 and 7.8 people. The share of firms holding ISMS-P (Personal Information & Information Security Management System) certification also stood at only 18% among life insurers and 6% among capital companies. Calls are growing within the industry for expanded joint inspections and technical support through central federations.