Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

(Seoul=Yonhap News) 52 global companies including Boeing and Huawei have been found to be operating open innovation organizations in Korea. The Korea International Trade Association (KITA), along with Mind the Bridge (MTB) released a report, titled "Corporate Innovation in South Korea". MTB is an official consultant for the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP), EU's startup support institute.

According to the report, currently 52 global companies are running 59 open innovation organizations in Korea. And they are also sourcing Korea's innovative technologies through about 3,500 tech scouters.

By country, the corporate innovation presence of the US (17 organizations) was the largest, followed by Germany (10), France (8), Japan (4), and UK (3). By industry, investment was most active in IT and software (8), communication (6), chemicals (6), bio and life science (5), manufacturing (4), mobility (4), and electronics (3). By the type of open innovation organization, R&D center (27) top the list, followed by innovation lab (16), corporate venture capital (CVC; 9), and small-scale branch (so-called "antenna", 7).

An innovation lab is an organization in the form of incubator and accelerator, while an antenna is a small-scale organization consisted of 1-10 people.

The report explained that "Until 2000, foreign companies run open innovation organizations only in the form of R&D center in which 50-1,000 researchers are gathered to conduct organized research and development of new technologies and solutions," adding "recently, they are pursuing more flexible and lighter organizations. In particular, the innovation lab type, which did not even exist before 2015, has become trend."

In recent five years, 13 open innovation organizations of large foreign business, including Bayer, Boeing, Huawei, and Daimler have been established in Korea. By type of organization, 13 innovation labs, 6 CVCs, and 3 antenna have been set up.

The report mentioned that "Business-led startup investment is especially vibrant in Korea compared to France, UK, and Germany. Korea is an attractive place as a hub of basic R&D in which technology innovation can be stimulated, as indicated by an increasing number of R&D Center."


bryoon@yna.co.kr

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Source: Yonhap News (June 30, 2021)