250427 2025 Gyeongbuk Region Outstanding Agri-Food Startup IR Competition Concludes…‘Seeking Promising Companies’

The Korea Agri-Food Venture Investment Association (Chairman Kwon Jun-hee, hereinafter the Association), in collaboration with the Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center and Daegu University Startup Support Group, announced on the 27th that the 2025 Gyeongbuk Region Agri-Food Startup IR Finals were successfully held on the 24th at the Inter-Burgo Hotel in Daegu.

This competition was organized to identify promising local agri-food startups and provide tailored commercialization support suited to their stage of investment.

Eight startups that passed the document review advanced to the finals, where they each delivered a 15-minute presentation (including Q&A) in front of a judging panel composed of Association members and other experts. Based on the evaluation results, three companies were selected as final winners: Hydro Oice Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Han-dong) received the Grand Prize, BICHEDAM CEO Ho-bin Moon Receives Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation Co., Ltd. (CEO Moon Ho-bin) won the Excellence Award, and the Korea Fisheries Technology Institute Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Min-su) received the Encouragement Award.

The judging panel included representatives from Insight Ventures (CEO Park Moon-su), Gyeongnam Venture Investment (CEO Jo Guk-hyung), and CNT Tech (CEO Jeon Hwa-sung). All of these institutions currently serve as general partners (GPs) managing agri-food parent funds.

Additionally, Korea Foods (CEO Jeon Hyun-wook) attracted attention for having received investment from the Agri-Food Parent Fund, repaid the full amount, and now participates as a limited partner (LP), investing its own capital in local companies.

Series Ventures (Co-CEOs Park Jun-sang and Kwak Sung-wook) has extensive experience in planning and nurturing startups in the agri-food sector and has been designated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as the operating organization for the 2025 Entrepreneurial Small Business Matching Loan LIPS program.

Prior to the IR finals, the Association, the Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center, and Daegu University Startup Support Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the development of Gyeongbuk agri-food startups and foster entrepreneurship. The signing ceremony was attended by Jeong Seong-bong, Executive Vice President of the Association; Lee Moon-rak, CEO of the Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center; and Lee Jae-hyun, Head of the Daegu University Startup Support Group.

Jeong Seong-bong, Executive Vice President of the Association, emphasized, “Meaningful events like today, aimed at discovering and nurturing promising local agri-food startups, must continue. Relevant organizations should work together to ensure that startups with proven business potential receive diverse forms of support.”

Meanwhile, the Association, established in 2022 to promote sound investment activities and support the growth and virtuous cycle of the venture investment ecosystem—primarily focusing on sub-fund managers of the Agri-Food Parent Fund—has been working together with the Agricultural Policy Insurance Fund to enhance venture investment in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors.

 

Source : https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20250427002321477