SK Group has been stepping up its efforts to support the growth of new venture firms in the field of information and communications technology as part of its aim to support South Korea’s ongoing drive to establish a creative economy.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the group operates two provincial Creative Economy Innovation Centers, one in Daejeon and another in Sejong.

The centers offer a diverse range of support and services to venture firms inside the center, including tailored business mentorship, marketing assistance, support in commercializing their technologies at home and abroad as well as opportunities to partner with overseas investors, among others.

The Daejeon center, which celebrated its one-year anniversary earlier this month, has been helping ICT-focused start-ups expand their businesses through its Dream Venture Star program.

A total of 10 start-ups have managed to secure 3.3 billion won ($2.9 million) in investments and record around 1.8 billion won in sales, a significant improvement from just 320 million won in sales posted prior to partaking in the program, according to SK.

CMES -- the developer of an advanced 3-D industrial scanner -- has secured a 100 million won deal to service its products to German-based automobile parts company Continental.

It is preparing to close a 1 billion won deal with a major Korean automobile manufacturer and to begin servicing its 3-D scanners to semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix in the near future as well.

“We were able to build up our company with seed money as well as realistic marketing and financial consulting provided by SK,” said CMES CEO Lee Sung-ho.

VideoFactory, a cloud-based online video platform provider led by 25-year-old CEO Hwang Min-young, was selected to join the F50 Private Founder & Investment Network through a Silicon Valley program run by the Science Ministry’s Korea Innovation Center.

Starting from the end of this year, SK will begin holding a “Matching Day” at the Daejeon center, which will service as a platform for connecting venture firms with those who possess the needed patented technologies.

Meanwhile, the Sejong Creative Economy Innovation Center aims to nurture new start-ups in the agriculture sector with a particular focus on using information and communication technology to improve local farming systems.

Aiming to rejuvenate local communities in Sejong, SK Group has been utilizing the ICT capabilities of its telecommunications business unit, SK Telecom, to set up “smart” farms.

SK’s smartphone-based monitoring system uses temperature and humidity sensors as well as surveillance cameras to deliver convenient real-time data to the farmers, according to SK.

The group is pursuing a solar power development project as well as setting up online and offline retail shops through which local farmers can sell their fruits and vegetables directly to consumers.

As interest in SK’s creative economy measures have been growing overseas, the conglomerate signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-run Saudi Telecom in March last year to introduce and localize the creative economy innovation center business model in Saudi Arabia.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)