Korea is one of the more technologically advanced countries in the world. It is home to several successful startup companies and is heavily supported by the government and outside investors. South Korea supports many startup companies by endorsing tax breaks and incentives for many types of investors. Besides being one of the largest economies in Asia, South Korea is also one of the safest countries in the world and has a supportive patent law system that protects many startups’ ideas under government protection.
I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to meet with three startup companies at a business networking event called D.CAMP. At the business event, three startup companies would present their ideas, industry, and experiences to all the interns present. Each company was unique and different from one another with the ultimate goal of creating a global presence and making life better. For example, one of the companies called Engram wished to create a platform that would help non-English speakers to learn how to speak English in a more casual setting.
It differentiated itself from other grammar and English learning platforms by focusing on consumers who lacked an English-speaking background. It also has proven to have substantially greater results with grammar and punctuation corrections compared to its competitors and would hope to eventually adopt the English-speaking market as well as non-English speakers.
Another company that was presented created a software called Pilleye which allows pharmaceutical companies and hospitals to instantly count the number of pills presented to them without the need to manually count all pills. It was developed with the intention to reduce manual labour cost as well as accelerate packaging and processing for pharmacies. The idea was presented when the CEO found that pharmacists spend much of their time counting and recording pills thus he created a solution to instantly count the number of pills up to 1000 without any hitches. This would allow more time for pharmacists to focus on their work, eliminating the tedious process of counting pills.
The final company presented a very short presentation as he was alerted in the morning of the event that he was to present his company. The general basis of the company was that he wished to create “widgets” which condensed how notifications from apps were organized and presented. He wanted to allow related notifications to come from one “widget” which would significantly improve organization and work effectiveness. Though the information was limited, the idea was interesting as it was something that would be applied to those with busy schedules and the general populace.
The business networking event known as D.CAMP was an enjoyable experience that granted me and many others insight into the startup economy of South Korea. It allowed me to connect with some of the startups and help me understand the challenges of starting a business and breaking into the market nationally and globally.
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