Standing tall as the best domestic entrepreneurial university
Fueled by Hanyang’s practical learning, the alumni business startup network is also very strong. According to Korea’s largest business credit ratings agency, the Korea Enterprise Data, the annual sales of businesses run by CEOs from Hanyang University draws near 573 trillion won (about 482 billion USD) as of 2018. This is a figure that has reached 33.1% of Korea’s GDP. As of last December 2018, the number of companies with Hanyang alumni CEOs ranked 1st among domestic universities, with 10,213 enterprises, which is 1.8 times more than average among Korea’s top six universities (Korea University, Sogang University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, and KAIST). In addition, 334 enterprises were listed in the securities market including the negotiable security, KOSDAQ (Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations), and KONEX (Korea New Exchange).
(below) Pictured is the Hanyang Entrepreneurship Day, a competition for the best startup items created during the first semester undergraduate startup lecture in 2019.
From the startup preparation step to the exit: Establishment of the startup life cycle support system
Hanyang University established the Center for Entrepreneurship (now the Startup Support Foundation) in 2009—which functions as a university startup support control tower focusing on ‘producing a prepared technical entrepreneur’ through proposals from alumni entrepreneurs. After its establishment, comprehensive startup support systems, such as startup education, startup training, networking, startup care, global support, and investments, were created, and customized startup step-by-step accelerations are provided. With the increase in life expectancy, and the fading notion of a lifetime career, a more systematic startup education is being provided to students in order to help in their active participation as well as in the wide mapping of their career paths.
A systematic startup lecture that half of students take: Startup needs preparation
Ryu Chang-wan, the director of the Startup Support Foundation, emphasized, “Challenge to startup is possible only through ideas and techniques, but systematic education and training is necessary for sustainable success.” Thus, by establishing undergraduate startup convergence majors and graduate school startup convergence departments, professional startup education curriculums have been provided, accelerating the production of creative and talented students who will innovate in the global economy. To solve the difficulties that students go through during the startup process, one-stop startup counseling centers which allow for both online and offline counseling as well as a mentor-on-call program that matches 1:1 with diverse experts from Hanyang University’s Startup Support Foundation on topics ranging from technology, law, finance, and foreign investment attraction are being operated.
Furthermore, to decrease the burden on students from holding both academic and startup activities, diverse infrastructures and systems have been provided. The university aims to form an environment that allows students to freely participate in startups—not only establishing spaces that include the ‘247 Startup Dome,’ a startup dormitory for students wishing for a business startup, the ‘Comax Startup Town,’ a cooperative workspace space for student startups that was established by the donation from president Byun Bong-deok (Department of Mathematics, class of ‘58)—but also in establishing startup-friendly administrative systems such as the startup leave of absence and the startup alternative credit recognition system. Powered by this wholehearted support, about 150 startup clubs in Hanyang University are active every year, and about 55 student startup businesses are being produced among those clubs.
24/7 Start up Support! The ‘247 Startup Dome’ for intensively promoting innovative entrepreneurs
In particular, the ‘247 Startup Dome’ (Startup Dome), which holds the meaning of supporting students’ startup for 24 hours seven days, is Hanyang’s own diversified student startup support platform that selects about 30 student entrepreneurs and provides them with dormitories, exclusive space, and mentors for one year. The Startup Dome was arranged by remodeling a 638㎡ space of one floor in the previous 1st Residence Hall that was used as a building for preparation courses for the Bar Exam, which now consists of 10 dormitories, a cooperative workspace, a project room, a startup mentor office, and a startup professor office. In fact, Hanyang University is the first domestic university ever to intensively produce student entrepreneurs through a residential startup space that not only provides dormitories but also utilizes education and exclusive experts. Lee Kyung-tae (Division of Business Administration, class of ‘10), a student who joined the 247 Startup Dome in 2018, said, “it was difficult for students living far from each other to even gather up for a meeting, but the efficiency improved drastically after joining the 247 Startup Dome,” and that they “finished the project that originally took more than a month in just two weeks.”
(Below left) Students concentrating on their startups for service launching
(Below right) A student writing on his board sharing his startup progress status with other participants
The university’s own establishment fund supporting stable commercialization of early startup businesses
Hanyang University is the first domestic university ever to hold a university technology holdings company (HYU Holdings). It was selected as the TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startups Korea) program operator for the government’s technology based startup team, having created funds of 8.3 billion won (about 7 million USD), such as the Ministry of Education University Startup Fund. Not only Hanyang’s Startup Support Foundation Investment Fund, organized by the university’s faculties, and the Hanyang Angel Club, which centers on alumni CEOs, but also the VC (Venture Capital) network, which is connected to the Hanyang University Startup Support Foundation, is linked to create a customized investment support system that aids in the early startup commercialization of businesses. Moreover, business plan coaching and intensive mentoring programs have been enhanced to develop the strength of investment capacity for startup businesses and attract real investment to the fullest advantage.
The birth of a global innovation business that will surprise the world: The start is important
Hanyang University is constructing infrastructure and networks all over the world to prepare a stepping stone for student startups wishing to make headway into the global market and to develop the capacity of current students. This is because successful foreign market entry is possible through an organized preparation that keeps in mind the steps from the preliminary design of an item to the global market. Hanyang University established a Global Startup Base Center in the U.S. Silicon Valley, New York, Shanghai China, Hanoi Vietnam, and appointed global startup mentors (known as the Startup Mentors) that consists of alumni members from all over the world. The Startup Mentors are active, not only in the core fields of the Fourth Industrialization such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous driving, and Big Data, but also in other diverse fields such as investment, law, and the global network expert, which allows them to provide support to startups in need of realistic counseling to work globally. The Startup Mentors are carrying out online and offline mentoring for their juniors in school who wish to participate in the global marketplace, and regular lectures progressed through video will be opened this year.
Preparing a stepping stone for global market entry for startup businesses: Establishing a worldwide cooperation network
With the aim of ‘fostering global innovative startups,’ Hanyang is supporting various programs to give practical help to local startups hoping to make inroads into the global market. Hanyang University provides acceleration that fits the local situation by forming a cooperative network of 50 countries such as the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. One representative example is the global accelerating program that selects promising startups and supports them by links to desired local accelerators, mentoring, and feasibility analysis. Through the mentoring and feasibility analysis by the local accelerator, outstanding startups are dispatched into the field, and can participate in business meetings and accelerating programs with local experts and VC. During the last three years, 87 businesses consolidated their foothold through this program, and 35 actual agreements were made, with 14 successfully going abroad.
Establishing faculty: Master doctorate startup support system for university technology startup vitalization
Hanyang University is also supporting faculty and master·doctorate-level start-ups to boost technology start-ups originating from universities. Hanyang University was selected as the Leading University of the Laboratory Specialized Startup held by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), and allowed the sharing of vivid information of the industrial trends between faculties by managing the Faculty Startup Forum and the Industry Advisory Board (IAB). Furthermore, the previous research sabbatical year system, which was limited to academic research, has been improved by establishing the industry-university (startup) research year system, and the student startup link category was included in the faculty performance evaluation domain. Hanyang University established a system that allows a step-by-step systematic startup support from the laboratory startup business preparation step of education, mentoring, prototype production, space infrastructure, global advancement, and financial support to the EXIT (investment exit) step. The establishment of the One Stop Startup Mentoring System, specializing in laboratory startup and strategic support, is expected in connection with the government support business for a phased startup research outcome, enhancing IP, and planning post R&D.
Hanyang’s own startup support system: Continuing as a healthy startup ecosystem
Hanyang University will keep its diverse efforts on becoming a world class university with startup support. The university will strengthen its education and support system by setting up a 'Lab to Market' incubator for the master and doctorate-level technology start-up with high success rates in starting businesses. In addition, Hanyang will strive for co-prosperity with local industries through linkage of local, specialized industries or cooperation with relevant local industry agencies. These support systems not only contributes to the buildup of a healthy startup ecosystem, but they also discover talented innovation entrepreneurs, and develop them to take a big part in creating job opportunities and revitalize the national economy.
The world pays attention to the student startup business ‘LetinAR’ which created an augmented reality lens
Kim Jae-hyuk (Department of Industrial Engineering), the representative of LetinAR was spotlighted by diverse global companies in the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) held on January in Las Vegas, United States through his ‘Pin Mirror 2020’ lens which passed the limit of previous augmented reality and optical systems. LetinAR’s Pin Mirror Lens overcame the limits of augmented reality machines that only had 23 degrees of vertical viewing angle, which was expanded to 40 degrees, and the usability was improved so that it could be used naturally like normal glasses.
Kim used the pin mirror technology that he and his colleague co-developed for startup, and later advanced startup items, attracted investment, and focused on strengthening the ability of global startups through the university’s startup support system. Of particular importance, the 247 Startup Dome and the moving in of the business incubation center later brought practical investment attraction by intensively coaching stable commercialization and investment progress. Representative Kim achieved investment attraction of 6.7 billion won (about 5.7 million USD) from Naver, DSC Investment since 2017. Afterward, he participated in worldwide exhibitions such as CES, MWC (Mobile World Congress) and gained tremendous responses and suggestions of joint business from Google, Apple, and Huawei.
LetinAR is recognized for its firm technical abilities through the Prism Award from the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), which has the highest authority in the recent optical science field. Kim showed his aspiration of “bringing the third visual revolution of changing the way humans view the world in the next five years.”
