Seoul AI Hub serves as networking home for startups

From left Toonsquare CEO Lee Ho-young, Crowdworks CEO Park Min-woo, and Petnow CEO Lim Joon-ho. [Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government]

Seoul AI Hub in Woomyeon-dong, southern Seoul, is emerging as a focal point for startups, providing a vibrant space where information exchange propels business growth and innovation.

Seoul AI Hub, one of the city’s startup support hubs, nurtures artificial intelligence talents and supports outstanding AI companies. As of July last year, the hub had 94 companies.

One of the notable startups from this hub is Crowdworks Inc.

Led by Chief Executive Officer Park Min-woo, Crowdworks was the first among local AI training data platform companies to go public. The company specializes in technologies that process raw data into a form that AI can learn through crowdsourcing.

Although the company has grown and subsequently left the hub, Park says the hub provided him and his company with great support.

“For startup CEOs who have a lot to think about, such as business direction and how to attract investors, this place is the optimal location,” the CEO said.

Another resident is Petnow Inc., which provides biometric recognition services for pets through mobile phones, similar to fingerprint identification for humans.

Petnow received the top innovation award from the Consumer Electronics Show last year as the only Korean startup.

Petnow CEO Lim Joon-ho praised the AI hub, especially for being the pivot for information exchange. “By interacting with the companies here, you can quickly obtain rapidly changing information and grasp trends,” Lim said.

Lee Ho-young, CEO of Toonsquare Corp., which developed the webtoon authoring creation tool, Tooning, also shared his experience.

“Since coming here, I received help in understanding trends by interacting with fellow CEOs who share a background in AI,” Lee said.

Through the exchange of information and addressing shared concerns, businesses have not only expanded in scale but also increased their number of employees.

When Crowdworks joined the hub in 2020, the company had about 18 employees, which has now increased to over 200. Its revenue also grew to about 20 billion won ($15.4 million) from around 50 million won at the time of entry.

Petnow has also grown to have 30 employees from 5 employees when it moved in. During the period, its corporate value also grew to 34 billion won.

Toonsquare also saw the number of its employees rise to over 50, with corporate value reaching 39 billion won.