[Pangyo Technovalley, Innovation Hub in Asia] Xinova Asia Leads Successful Open Innovation

    LOS ANGELES, CA, September 12, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Xinova Asia provides companies with innovative services to solve problems and brace for the future. As a part of the global startup acceleration project by the Gyeonggi provincial government and Gyeonggi Business & Science Accelerator (GBSA), it is running 2020 Xinova Global Acceleration Program at Startup Campus Global Acceleration Center in Pangyo Techno Valley. The program selects promising startups in various Industry 4.0 sectors such as green energy, IT and AI, and bio-healthcare and provide residence in the center for one year and various support to help them enter the global market.

Xinova is a company spun out of Intellectual Ventures, a global patent holding firm founded in 2000 by former Microsoft Technology Chief Officer Nathan Myhrvold and former Microsoft Chief Software Architect Edward Jung. Xinova, established in 2017, has defined innovation challenges, offered solutions, and supported commercialization in close connection with its global innovation network that is joined by about 12,000 experts including scientists, engineers, inventors, and business experts from the world's top-class universities and research institutions.

Xinova Asia, a joint venture of Xinova, has secured companies from startups to large companies in Korea as customers and is expanding its business to the Asian market under the leadership of Chairman Yongsung Kim, former CEO of Doosan Infracore. When Kim heard about the plan to establish Xinova from Edward Jung, he thought that a global innovation network like Xinova is essential to improve the global competitiveness of Korean companies. So, he planned to establish Xinova Asia.

Kim who was the first Korean partner at McKinsey & Company joined Doosan Group and served as the CEO of Neoplux, its affiliate venture capital firm, Chief Strategy Officer of Doosan Group, and the CEO of Doosan Infracore. His career and experiences were considered suitable for consulting to resolve issues facing companies, so by him and Xinova together, Xinova Asia opened its office in Teheran-ro, Seoul in June 2017.

Since then, Xinova Asia, aiming to realize and maximize value by placing the four elements of innovation – ideas, talents, capital, and demand – in the right place, has provided many startups, SMEs, and large firms with Product & Technology Innovation Service and Business Model Innovation Service in an open innovation format.

Going a step further, it has also been running 2020 Xinova Global Acceleration Program since 2020 as a part of a global startup fostering project by the Gyeonggi provincial government and GBSA. This program selects 10 promising startups and SMEs every year to provide not only office space and infrastructure support but also local market expert training, global expansion training, and tailored advice from local experts to ensure that more than half of the companies can achieve practical results of stepping into the global market. "The program is to set a specific goal based on each company's capability and reinforce their global competitiveness for global expansion. To keep this project going continuously and solidly, we are trying our best to build a healthy ecosystem and talent network for startups in Korea," said Kim.

He also added, "Pangyo has a great location along with so many business-friendly policies that we don't even know where to use them. However, to create an active and dynamic ecosystem like Silicon Valley, we need to find a link to ensure active interactions between Pangyo and the global ecosystem and more programs to develop new technologies and businesses backed by various experiences from large company careers. Also, the innovative link should be strengthened financially to enable startups, SMEs, and large companies to coexist based on common goals."

"Many large companies are running in an open innovation format to effectively enhance their R&D because it is hard to predict which technology will turn out a success," he mentioned emphasizing that "SMEs or startups with lack of resources should also use open innovation format more actively when developing IPs or patents so that they can improve their R&D competitiveness and supplement the lack of human resources." He shared his vision saying, "I hope Xinova Asia can help bolster a talent network for startups in the long term and grow a unicorn in the process."

Xinova is a company spun out of Intellectual Ventures, a global patent holding firm founded in 2000 by former Microsoft Technology Chief Officer Nathan Myhrvold and former Microsoft Chief Software Architect Edward Jung. Xinova, established in 2017, has defined innovation challenges, offered solutions, and supported commercialization in close connection with its global innovation network that is joined by about 12,000 experts including scientists, engineers, inventors, and business experts from the world's top-class universities and research institutions.

# # #