Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) held the ‘JBNU University Startup Fund Investment Attraction Competition’ on the 27th to support the growth of university startups.

The competition was held as a preliminary-investment event for JBNU's second University Startup Fund, a KRW 2.7 billion fund established after being selected last May for the education-account capital-contribution project supported by the Ministry of Education and Korea Venture Investment.

Organized by the JBNU Technology Holding Company, the Industry-University Cooperation, and a patent law firm, the competition involved six university startups and investment firms, including C&Venture Partners and Nautilus Investment. Three startups were selected, and prizes of KRW 3 million for the Grand Prize, KRW 2 million for the Best Prize, and KRW 1 million for the Excellence Prize were awarded.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Actibuki Co., Ltd. (CEO Dongwon Lee), which has recently distinguished itself in next-generation metaverse-based rural experience platforms and AI.

Piver Co., Ltd. received the Best Prize, and ECG Co., Ltd. received the Excellence Prize. The JBNU Technology Holding Company plans to make separate direct investments in these three award-winning teams through JBNU's second University Startup Fund (fund size KRW 2.7 billion), thereby building momentum for their growth.

Gi-hwan Jo, Executive Vice‑President of Research at JBNU, said, "Starting with this investment competition, we will activate investment infrastructure in the Jeonbuk region and actively promote the cultivation and investment of future unicorn companies. We will do our best to discover and help grow star entrepreneurs who will lead Jeonbuk's economy."