University Lab Achievements Leading to Real Startups... A Visit to the Startup Incubator Center

Vice Minister Koo Hyukchae of the Ministry of Science and ICT Pledges Support for the Startup Ecosystem

At 10:00 a.m. on July 3, at the Startup Incubation Center of Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, the autonomous manufacturing solution developed by Crois, a robotics control artificial intelligence (AI) startup, was in operation. A robotic arm picked up a tiny implant model, about the size of a fingernail. Next to the robotic arm, data collected through a camera capturing video footage was transmitted to a monitor. The company collects and refines on-site data from robots, sensors, and CCTV, and connects it to robotic control.

On the 3rd, Koo Hyuk Chae, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, visited Mimetics at Sungkyunkwan University Startup Incubation Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and experienced a skin patch. Ministry of Science and ICT.

Crois is a company developing robotics and AI-based autonomous manufacturing technologies, founded in 2022 by CEO Lee Jaehyung. Over the past three years, the company has attracted 300 million won in investment and achieved 5.5 billion won in sales. CEO Lee explained, "We are automating tasks previously done by humans using robots, enabling robotic transformation in manufacturing lines such as automatic packaging and transportation."

Another startup founder, Park Hyunggi of Mimetics, also presented his technology. Mimetics is a company that develops needle-free skin patches inspired by natural biological mechanisms, such as the structure of octopus suckers. CEO Park, who founded the company in 2022, recently achieved 700 million won in sales. The patch features hundreds of tiny dome structures, each less than 3mm in diameter, arranged to adhere to the skin like octopus suckers. CEO Park applied a whitening serum to the patch and placed it under his left eye, with the bumpy patch sticking firmly. He explained, "The negative pressure formed by the patch pulls the skin, improving the absorption rate of cosmetic products. In addition to silicone, we are diversifying our materials to include hydrogel."

In addition to Crois and Mimetics, the Sungkyunkwan University Startup Incubation Center is home to several other startups actively developing technologies, such as JLabNT, which specializes in nano-carbon-based advanced materials, and Litway, a startup focused on battery performance enhancement additives. On that day, Koo Hyuk-chae, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, visited the site and met with startup founders. He stated, "We will support young researchers so they can fully demonstrate their capabilities, venture into deep tech startups, and grow within the entrepreneurial ecosystem to become innovative companies." CEO Park pointed out the challenges faced by startups, saying, "While we invest significant resources in developing original technologies, the potential leakage of technology to domestic and foreign competitors is the biggest concern for our growth."

This visit by Vice Minister Koo marked the 20th event of "Project Empathy 118," an initiative aimed at realizing field-oriented science and technology policies through direct communication with various members of the scientific community. The event was organized to observe how university laboratory research results are leading to real-world startups and to listen to the voices of young entrepreneurs. During a subsequent meeting, the young founders shared their experiences and on-site insights from the process of preparing for and growing their startups. Together with NEST, an alliance of investment institutions specializing in deep tech commercialization, they also discussed ways to support the growth of early-stage deep tech companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.