STAXX Project Shared its Achievements at the ‘STAXX Panorama’ Event on the 30th of Last Month.

The event shared the project's achievements over the past three years, including the attraction and investment of 10 social ventures and the establishment of a youth exchange space.

The event also proposed a strategy and direction for building a local startup ecosystem in the Gyeongsangbuk-do region.

On the 30th of last month (Tuesday), STAXX Project, a leading regional activation program in Korea, co-created by Gyeongsangbuk-do, Yeongju City, SK Specialty, Impact Square, and social ventures, held a ‘STAXX Panorama’ event to share its achievements over the past three years and propose a future direction for the growth of the local startup ecosystem in the Gyeongsangbuk-do region.

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The ‘STAXX Panorama’ held at Yeongju City’s Seonbi World Han-eum Music Hall featured ‘STAXX Omnibus’, a demo day for the participating 10 companies, ‘STAXX Highlight’, a performance report that shared the economic and social value created by the project over the past three years, and an exhibition titled ‘Stack, Credit’, which showcased the stories of the people involved in the project.

The demo day (STAXX Omnibus) featured presentations from the 10 companies that participated in the project: △Decant △Liquor Square △Byroot △Backpacker’s Planet △Blank △Vinesst △El Ground △Pinogen △Picky Child Company △Korea Fisheries Research & Development Institute (KOF). Each company presented its achievements and future growth potential. This demo day stood out from other typical demo days by considering the values and characteristics of each company, whether it be ‘scale deep’ which aims for local growth or ‘scale up’ which seeks rapid growth in scale. The presentations and evaluations were conducted based on these considerations. Following the presentations, six judges selected Pinogen (CEO Shinbyeol) as the best company in the scale-deep category and the Korea Fisheries Research & Development Institute (KOF) as the best company in the scale-up category.

The ‘STAXX Highlight’ performance report shared experiences and achievements from the past three years. To share the experiences of various stakeholders from the public and private sectors, representatives from STAXX project participants, Yeongju City, and SK Specialty took to the stage for a talk concert. At the end of the program, awards were presented to acknowledge the contributions made by those involved in the project. SK Specialty received the Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor’s Award, and Impact Square received the Yeongju Mayor’s Award.

Speaking on stage during a short vision speech, Do Hyun-myeong, CEO of Impact Square, stated, “Many people still ask us why we continue to work on difficult local projects. Our only answer is that we believe there is potential here and that it is a worthwhile endeavor. As the 10 companies have demonstrated the start of that potential, we will continue to support the growth of more entrepreneurs who will shape the dynamics of Yeongju.”

‘Stack, Credit’ conveyed the value of the ‘community’ that the STAXX Project is creating in Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, in the form of an exhibition, garnering positive responses from attendees. This exhibition was designed to showcase the project's insight that a sustainable work environment and entrepreneurship are possible when diverse lifestyles coexist in a region and support the lives of individuals.

Lee Kyu-won, CEO of SK Specialty, who participated in the project, stated, “The collaboration between the company and the local government based on mutual trust has resulted in the budding of meaningful changes in Yeongju. We will do our best to ensure that STAXX becomes a leading regional activation program in Korea that addresses the pain points of the region and seeks a path to co-prosperity.”

The STAXX Project was designed to identify and accelerate promising companies that can serve as role models for local entrepreneurs, thus securing excellent growth cases. It has focused on attracting 10 companies with high growth potential to Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, closely linking them with regional resources to help them establish sustainable business models. In addition to this, the project has operated 12 diverse lectures and practical programs for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs in the region, supporting the growth of over 340 local entrepreneurs. It has also leveraged various partnerships with the metropolitan area and the region, such as Seoul’s ‘Next Local’ and the Korea Tourism Organization’s sustainable travel demonstration project ‘Better:里’, to promote the agenda of activating Yeongju’s startup ecosystem. The STAXX Project team expressed its hope for continued interest and support in its future programs utilizing these experiences and know-how.

About Impact Square

Impact Square is an organization that researches and analyzes how business in this era can trigger social innovation and how social value can create business competitiveness based on its mission of ‘enabling more people to consume impact businesses.’ Its main business areas include impact acceleration, ESG implementation strategy consulting, impact investment, and impact measurement/evaluation. It aims to help companies turn their social and environmental values into business competitiveness in all of these processes.

Website: https://www.impactsquare.com/

Contact Information
Impact Square
Manager Kim So-sun
070-4256-0916