Press

Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center (Director Kim Jung-soo) announced on August 26 that it held a final performance sharing session for the first cohort of '2020 Social Impact Changers.' The '2020 Social Impact Changers 1st Program' is a 12-week program conducted in the Daejeon region to discover and nurture social ventures that solve social problems based on technological capabilities and ideas. The program was divided into a 2-week idea validation process and a 10-week business advancement process. From mid to late May, an idea validation process was conducted to derive perspectives on social problems and concretize technology-based solutions and business models. Subsequently, through a mid-June sharing session, 21 excellent teams selected were supported in business model advancement, and mentoring and resources necessary for practical management skills were provided. With the participation of Hana Financial Group and Hana Ventures, Korea Social Investment (an impact investment specialist), and Underdogs (a social innovation company builder), 12 teams presented social innovation ideas, and 5 excellent startup teams, including 1 grand prize winner, were selected through on-site evaluation. Hana Financial Group (Chairman Kim Jung-tae) has ended the second program of 'Hana Social Venture Academy,' which supports social innovation entrepreneurs through startup education. The group shared the achievements of 12 innovative startup (prospective) teams that participated in the customized startup education of the 'Hana Social Venture Academy' conducted for 11 weeks from July. The grand prize winner, 'Kangstersz Crew,' is a social venture founded to solve the inconveniences of the physically disadvantaged through technology. They presented assistive devices for people with disabilities, including a wheel cleaner that eliminates the hassle of cleaning wheelchair wheels one by one when entering homes. Additionally, ▲ Excellence Award winners were 'Soul Medi,' which can help resolve information asymmetry in pharmaceuticals, and 'Vintage House,' which promotes beat trading for indie musicians. ▲ Merit Award winners were 'Silver Lining,' which creates a senior walking delivery solution, and 'Rain Clover,' which created a non-point pollution reduction platform for the environment. Venture investors (VCs) such as Hana Ventures, Neofly, and D3Jubilee, understanding the difficulties of social ventures that must pursue both social problem-solving and business simultaneously, unlike general venture startups, encouraged and evaluated startup ideas with practical advice to develop better solutions. An official from Hana Financial Group stated, 'We are confident that the 11 weeks of startup education will be of great help in solving social problems and developing business models,' and added, 'Hana Financial Group will continue to provide various support to activate the social economy by supporting the startup ecosystem and creating quality jobs.' In addition, Hana Financial Group supports social innovation enterprises to solve various social problems through programs such as 'Hana Power-On Challenge,' 'Hana Power-On Impact,' and 'Hana Impact Academy,' and continues efforts to activate the social economy.