Pangyo Technovalley Weekly News, News from the Third week of July

    LOS ANGELES, CA, July 21, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Chairman Chey Tae-won and his friends stop by at Kakao "mm"

Kakao mm is hosting an audio live talk show by inviting the heads of large corporations.

Kakao announced on July 9 that the chairman group of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will hold an "Audio Live Talk Show" to discuss and listen to opinions on the new role of companies on its social audio platform "mm."

This event will be held for about an hour and a half from 9:00 p.m. that day under the theme "the company we want." The speakers will be KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won, Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice Chairman Lee Woo-hyun who is the OCI Vice Chairman, and Bespin Global CEO Lee Han-ju.

There will also be HGI Director Kim Kyung-heon, Plannery CEO Lee Na-ri, Google Korea Manager Lee Jung-ah, economic critic Lee Jin-woo, and Daishin Economic Research Institute CEO Jo Yoon-nam participating in the discussion.

One Kakao official said, "As anyone can participate in the social audio platform "mm," we expect that it will provide an opportunity for new communication to exchange real-time voice communication." We plan to create a place where users can interact with more unique topics in the future, including collaboration with the company."

AI engine development specialist "Soynet" attracts one billion won in follow-up investment

The Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (GCCEI) announced on July 12 that the company it invested in Soynet has successfully attracted follow-up investment.

Soynet is a technology-based early start-up supported by the program "K-Challenge Lab" set up by GCCI, and it has attracted one billion won in follow-up investment. It has been six months since GCCEI made a direct investment last January.

Soynet is an AI engine development specialist that develops and supplies solutions that maximize the use of a graphic processing unit (GPU) and maximize inference speed by minimizing memory used. The company introduced these solutions when it incorporated in 2018, and it is supplying products to a number of companies using AI services from companies such as POSCO and Neuromeka.

An official from the GCCEI said, "Soynet is a promising innovative company that we discovered, and this follow-up investment was achieved within a very short period after we made a direct investment with them. Encouraged by this achievement, we will keep doing our job of discovering promising innovative companies and making investments."

COVID-19 vaccination certificate available on Naver and KakaoTalk from July 12

In cooperation with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Naver and Kakao will provide a COVID-19 vaccination certification service from July 12. Users who have been vaccinated can verify their vaccination through KakaoTalk and Naver app's Ki-Pass/Korea Internet-Pass QR Check-in.

First, in KakaoTalk, click "Import Vaccination Information" on the "QR Check-in" screen from the "More" tab and go through the consent process. Vaccination information will be included in the QR code, and the vaccination certificate will also be issued and stored in the KakaoTalk wallet. The vaccination certificate will display information such as the vaccination session, vaccine name, and the date of vaccination.

In the Naver app, vaccination information will be displayed at the bottom of the QR Check-in screen for easy authentication. If you set the mobile phone "shake" function on the initial screen of the app, you can use the "Na" service or QR Check-in right away.

It provides vaccination information and also detailed information on the COVID-19 vaccines. It will display the session of vaccination, days passed since the vaccination if vaccinated within 14 days.

Krafton's "Battlegrounds Mobile" sale ranks second in India and proves popularity

According to the game industry on July 7, Battlegrounds Mobile India, which started service in India on July 2, ranked second in Google Play sales in India.

Starting with the launching of Battleground Mobile India, Krafton is planning to set up various competitions and leagues, fostering the e-sports ecosystem in India. For this, it participated in a seed round investment of $9 million (about 10.1 billion won) in "Loco," a local game streaming platform last month, and in March, it also invested 1.66 billion rupees (about 25.5 billion won) in India's e-sports company NODWIN Gaming.

The company said, "Battlegrounds Mobile India has so many Indian fans that 40 million people pre-ordered it. Krafton is keeping an eye on the potential of the Indian market, and it is actively penetrating the market by developing games and providing contents and events exclusively for Indian users. Also, we are planning to do our best to foster the Indian e-sports ecosystem by organizing various game competitions and leagues."

The reason Krafton continues to have interest in the Indian market is highly related to bright market prospects. According to the multinational consulting firm KPGM, the Indian online game market of about two trillion won this year is expected to more than double to 4.4 trillion won by 2025.

Pangyo Technovalley is an innovation hub for global companies comparable to the Silicon Valley in the US, Zhongguancun in China, and STATION F in France. It is an Asia tech hub with 1,259 IT, BT, CT, and NT companies that possess innovative products and technologies. Located just south of the metropolitan area, it provides the best environment for Korean companies to do business with great transportation access and infrastructure.

Various high-tech companies are located in Pangyo Technovalley, and it is occupied by 64,000 full-time employees, many in their 20-30s. In terms of industry, the companies are engaged in information technology, contents technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

With the support of innovative companies with global capabilities such as Kakao, Naver, AhnLab, Krafton, NCSoft, Nexon, and Hancom, companies in Pangyo Technovalley recorded 107 trillion won in sales last year. Investment and infrastructure growth in Pangyo is expected to continue, with the Metaverse hub entering Pangyo this year.

Pangyo Techno Valley News Room

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