Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Regional Specialized Young Trade Expert Training Project Group (GTEP, Director Professor Kyung-sook Choi) won an award at the "2025 GTEP Youth Trade Awards" competition hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on the 1st.

They won the Young Trade Pioneer Award in the Startup category for the third consecutive year and also received the top prize in the Export Marketing category.

In particular, the Export Marketing category marked their return to the finals for the first time in three years since 2022. This achievement is regarded as bringing new vitality to the previously stagnating e-commerce practicum field.

Standing out in the Startup category, the FIVLO Team (Heo Ah-hyun, Kim So-jung, Kim Jeong-jin, Jeong Won-seok, Jeong Yoon-chang, Han Ji-ye) focused on decreased concentration and time-management issues experienced by people in the digital environment. They developed an application that incorporates various features such as the Pomodoro technique, AI-based goal segmentation, concentration analysis, forgetting-prevention, and time-attack functions.

They filed patent and trademark applications for the application and the character, securing intellectual property rights for their core business model. They expanded the model beyond a simple productivity app into an AI-based concentration enhancement and time-management routine solution, earning recognition for its potential to grow in the global market.

In the Export Marketing category, the Bibimi Team (Im Dong-chan, Kim Dan-a, Kim Min-ju, Park Jeong-eun, Jang Hyuk-jin, Han Ga-eun) received high praise for persistent buyer management and data-driven B2B strategies.

Choosing partner company Idea Co., Ltd.'s "ramen cooker" as their export item, they expanded contact points with overseas buyers seeking Korean products by using not only Alibaba — the global B2B platform that operates an account for the JBNU GTEP Project Group — but also buyKOREA and GobizKOREA.

They carried out proactive sales activities, including sending preemptive proposals to buyers with purchasing intent through Alibaba's RFQ function.

Above all, their precise targeting using DeepSales, a buyer-discovery platform, was noted. They did not stop at identifying potential customers through DeepSales; they also analyzed customer characteristics using their own data analysis.

Based on this, they established a GEO (AI search optimization) strategy incorporating AI technology and built an automatic shipping-cost guidance system, significantly improving buyer accessibility and convenience.

As a result, during the activity period the Bibimi Team directly engaged with more than 800 global buyers. Beyond simple inquiries, they maintained ongoing relationships through their self-developed CRM system, which led to reorderings from existing buyers.

To date, they have achieved exports to more than 10 countries. On the Alibaba platform they recorded approximately KRW 21 million in direct sales and secured a major export contract worth approximately KRW 250 million.

Team member Im Dong-chan of the Bibimi Team said, "We did not settle for merely listing the product; by sincerely managing and building trust with roughly 800 buyers, we achieved export contracts exceeding KRW 250 million."

Meanwhile, the JBNU GTEP Project Group is a global trade talent development program led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and supported by the Korea International Trade Association and Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province. Along with advanced e-commerce education, it operates an integrated JBNU GTEP account on the Alibaba platform and continuously supports promising local SMEs in developing overseas sales channels and expanding exports.