UNIST signs cooperation MoU with IBK

On August 26, UNIST and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly operate the so-called ‘IBK Changgong UNIST Camp,’ which aims to nurture young R&D talents into Korea’s next-generation of leading tech entrepreneurs and innovators.

Under this partnership, the two organizations have pledged to work together to facilitate entrepreneurship education in the university and offer full-strength support to future young entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth at early-stage startups.

To this end, a technology-based startup team will be jointly selected, and the selected teams will be given access to mentorship, investors and other support to help them establish their very early stage companies through the ‘IBK Changgong UNIST Camp.‘ Beyond mentorship, support for students may also include, but not be limited to, consultation services, funding, training, one-to-one mentorship with senior IBK Changgong companies, and space to work from.

Through the attraction of ‘IBK Changgong UNIST Camp,’ UNIST plans to help laboratory-based startups to proceed systematically through various startup support projects, which include the ‘Inopolis Campus Project,’ a startup support program for the preliminary and early-stage student/general entrepreneurs, the ‘Lab-Specialized Startup Leading University,’ and the ‘Lab Startup Innovation Team’ that supports graduate students’ laboratory technologies, such as linking them with local enterprises.

Meanwhile, the ‘IBK Changgong‘ is an incubation program that is designed to provide startups with resources, such as office space, counseling, and other financial and non-financial services. This will be their second camp, set up in the university setting after the Seoul National University.