Kyobo Life nurtures 136 startups over 7 years

South Korea's Kyobo Life Insurance Group announced on Thursday that it nurtured 136 impact businesses (Impact-Ups) in seven years to create social value. 

Kyobo Life, in collaboration with the Impact Foundation, held the "7th Impact-Up Demo Day" at Honghap Valley in Seoul's Gangnam-gu at the end of last month, where it awarded Revation, an eco-friendly product development solution company improving environmental issues.

The Grand Prize went to EasyTask, an AI-based company connecting customized talents to customers' job requests.

The Excellence Awards were given to NanumVitamin, a meal-sharing platform connecting children at risk of malnutrition with benevolent stores, and Andreia, a mental health startup developing AI services for preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental health issues. Free Idea received for developing alternatives to plastic containers and refill cosmetics to reduce carbon emissions.

Since its inception in 2018, Kyobo Life's Impact-Up support program has benefited 136 companies, estimated to have impacted over 100,000 individuals, generating environmental benefits such as carbon emission and waste reduction.

The products and services produced by Impact-Ups aim to solve social issues and support vulnerable populations, Kyobo Life explained.

Write to Mi-Hyun Jo at mwise@hankyung.com