COMEUP 2021: Nvidia, Hyundai, and Amore Pacific present their startup ecosystem

The industrial scene is changing with innovations creating new technologies, systems, products, and services. Startups are at the forefront of these innovations, creating futuristic technology in the current age. Large conglomerates seek out such startups to partner with them, improve their products, and grow with these futuristic companies. In the COMEUP with open innovation sessions, large firms show how they have created unique startup ecosystems geared towards helping these firms to develop and commercialize their products. The last session saw Nvidia, Hyundai motors, and Amore Pacific present their startup ecosystem and current growth models.

Nvidia: The future partner of AI startups

Nvidia’s Senior Director of enterprise, Eungjoon Yoo, kicked off the last day of COMEUP with innovation. He discussed the growth of Nvidia, the status of the AI industry and introduced relevant programs offered by Nvidia. Yoo acknowledged the advancements in IT from using PCs in the 1990s, mobile phones in the early 2000s, and the AI and IoT we use today. “These developments have enabled us to advance in the way we collect, process, and store data.” he added.

Eungjoon believes that for a firm to succeed in the IT sector, they need to focus on using big data to collect and analyze the information they will use to develop their products or services. They need to create new algorithms that deliver superhuman accuracy, and they need modern computers with tens of CPU or GPU cores to fuel their architecture driving performance. According to him, Nvidia is one such successful company dealing in accelerated and full-stack computing. Nvidia provides an open community platform that gives partners access to OEMs, developers, and end consumers. These areas fuel the growth of Nvidia, and it currently has a market cap twice that of Samsung and three times larger than Intel. Yoo predicts that innovating, diversity, and creating new algorithms that provide superhuman accuracy and performance, remain relevant in the AI market.

Winning together, Going further with Amore Pacific

The Amore Pacific corporation is a Korean cosmetics and beauty company operating in over 40 beauty, health brands, and personal care such as Mamonde, Laneige, Sulwhasoo, and Innisfree. The conglomerate is the 12 largest cosmetics company operating in 60 countries worldwide. According to Yongjin Lee, Senior Vice president of Amore Pacific’s engineering division, Amore Pacific is in its next growth stage fueled by strategic partnerships, innovation, and digitization of its brands. The firm has several new brands such as ‘poopoo monster,’ a vegan shampoo for pets. Amore pacific partners with several startups to establish its new ventures. It partnered with Knollo to create Spark Pet, a company producing health brands and beauty products for pets. It has also partnered with IT startups to create a fantastic app through which customers can access their vast beauty products while creating personalized beauty products. Lee ended his presentation by inviting firms and individuals interested in their services to contact him or the company to win together.

The Hyundai Motors Way: Open innovation with the startup ecosystem

Shin started his presentation by pointing out the large number of startups that have come up in the recent decade. “With technological advancements coming in so fast, it’s critical for large conglomerates such as Hyundai to take advantage of the new technology and form meaningful relationships with startups,” he added. Hyundai doesn’t wait for startups to grow or commercialize their products before approaching them. It instead starts creating relationships with startups during their Serie A funding and continues supporting them till they commercialize their products. Currently, Hyundai works with over a hundred startups and plans to expand its ecosystem to over 150 by the end of 2022. Shin called out to firms with exceptional products and services to contact him or Hyundai to join their startup ecosystem.

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