Leading South Korean game developer Smilegate commemorated the first anniversary of the firm’s start-up incubation initiative, called Orange Farm, in Seoul on Thursday.

Smilegame runs three centers to nurture start-ups ― two in Seoul and one in Busan ― that house 23 ventures in total.

The business incubators are the largest among those run by private firms in Korea.

“Smilegate will spare no efforts to help fledgling ventures at the incubation centers to write success stories and create a healthy ecosystem for start-ups in Korea,” Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder and chief executive of Smilegate Group, said in his congratulatory speech.

The programs at the start-up centers help aspiring entrepreneurs from the beginning stages of their businesses and help them to make forays into global markets through the global networks of Smilegate, giving consultations for marketing and investment.

Kim Tae-hoon, chief of the start-up Rainist, which provides financial planning services for customers, said that “the Orange Farm programs have been a great help in overcoming obstacles in running businesses.”

Smilegate said it would beef up infrastructure and programs at the business incubation centers further down the road.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)