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Nine next-gen tech companies honored at annual startup conference

Published: 10 Sep. 2025, 18:11 Updated: 10 Sep. 2025, 20:13

Participants pose for a commemorative photo during the awards ceremony at the 2025 Startup Nation Korea forum held at the KI Building on KAIST’s main campus in Daejeon on Sept. 10. [KIM KYOUNG-ROK]

As AI, semiconductors and biotech reshape the global economy, Korea is betting on its most cutting-edge startups to lead the charge.

At an annual startup conference co-hosted by the JoongAng Ilbo, KAIST and Seoul National University (SNU) in Daejeon on Wednesday, nine promising companies developing next-generation technologies — from AI chips to new drug candidates — were honored for driving innovation in the country’s most strategic industries.

“The inference AI market has grown significantly in recent years. The fact that a new market has emerged where none existed before means opportunity for startups like ours,” said Shin Sung-kyue, chief financial officer (CFO) of Rebellions, during the Startup Nation Korea 2025 forum at the KI Building on the main campus of KAIST in Daejeon.

Rebellions received the Minister of Science and ICT Award at the event in recognition of its development of a neural processing unit (NPU), a semiconductor specialized for inference AI. The company was founded in September 2020 by CEO Park Sung-hyun, who previously worked in AI chip design at Intel and SpaceX.

“Starting a company in Korea may seem ordinary, but for us, it holds special meaning,” said CFO Shin. “Our founders, who built careers in AI semiconductors and NPUs in the United States, chose to return to Korea and launch a startup based on confidence in the domestic chip ecosystem.”

As power consumption and operational costs at data centers surged with the proliferation of AI services, Rebellions set out to design and develop NPUs that are more efficient than GPUs — aiming to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the market. The company has already commercialized products such as Atom, based on its proprietary core technology, and is preparing to launch its next-generation chip.

Participants pose for a commemorative photo during the awards ceremony at the 2025 Startup Nation Korea forum held at the KI Building on KAIST’s main campus in Daejeon on Sept. 10. [KIM KYOUNG-ROK]

At the forum, eight other deep-tech startups were recognized alongside Rebellions with the 2025 Korea Innovation Industry Award, part of a broader effort to highlight cutting-edge firms in key strategic industries. The annual awards, which expanded this year from six to 13 categories, were judged by a panel of 16 experts from academia, industry, investment and policy sectors. Finalists were evaluated on the innovation of their technologies, growth potential, revenue generation and job creation.

“This year’s contest saw a greater number of startups in AI, biotech and semiconductors operating at a global level,” said Kim Kyong-hwan, dean of the Sungkyunkwan University Global Entrepreneurship Graduate School and chair of the judging panel. “A notable feature was the high number of companies with intellectual property, such as patents.”

Cureverse, a biotech startup developing drugs to treat neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, was awarded the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award.

“I majored in biotechnology at university and have spent over 20 years on new drug development,” said CEO Cho Sung-jin. “I wanted to show that researchers can also succeed in business.” The company is developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and has secured 30 patents, both in Korea and abroad.

[JOONGANG ILBO, KAIST, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY]

The Minister of SMEs and Startups Award went to CryptoLab, a cybersecurity startup founded in 2017, which has developed homomorphic encryption — a highly complex technology that enables encrypted data to be analyzed without decryption.

“Homomorphic encryption is considered the holy grail of cryptography,” said CEO Cheon Jung-hee. “We spun off from Seoul National University and spent seven years on R&D. This year marks the beginning of commercialization."

Other award recipients included SemiFive, a semiconductor design firm, won the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman’s Award; Solivis, a developer of battery materials, won the Federation of Korean Industries Chairman’s Award; Medical IP, a company specializing in AI-powered cerebrovascular medical solutions, won the KAIST President’s Award; SelectStar, a company that verifies the reliability of AI data, won the Seoul National University President’s Award; Blue Tile Lab, which develops AI machine vision inspection systems, won the National Research Council of Science & Technology Chairman’s Award; and Naieel Technology, a developer of boron nitride nanotubes, won the Innopolis Foundation Chairman’s Award.

Newly established this year, the Startup Challenge Award (translated) recognized startups founded less than three years ago. Pamnesia, a fabless semiconductor company, won the Minister of Science and ICT Award, and Water Trinez, a manufacturer of liquid filtration filters, received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award.

The first-ever award for contributions to the startup ecosystem, the JoongAng Holdings Chairman’s Award, was presented to the Korea Science & Technology Holdings.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY EO HWAN-HEE [[email protected]]