Kakao Partners With Four Science Universities to Nurture Youth Entrepreneurs

Kakao (035720) Group said Thursday that it is building a cooperation framework with Korea's top science and technology universities to discover youth unicorn entrepreneurs who will lead the country.

To this end, "Kakao AI Dot" signed a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Nurturing Future AI Talent" on Wednesday at Kakao's Pangyo Agit with Korea's four science and technology institutes: the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). Kakao AI Dot is Kakao's organization for fostering regional artificial intelligence (AI) talent and companies.

The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Young-deok, head of the Kakao AI Dot Center; Lee Sung-hye, head of the KAIST Gifted Education Center; Kim Jong-won, head of the GIST Dreaming Children AX Education and Training Center; Seok Chang-won, dean of the DGIST Convergence Talent Education Institute; and Baek Chung-ki, head of the UNIST Supercomputing Center, who pledged close cooperation. Center head Kim Young-deok, appointed in May, is a startup investment and support expert who founded Gmarket and served as CEO of D.CAMP at the Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs and at Lotte Ventures (formerly Lotte Accelerator).

Kakao signed an MOU with the four institutes in March this year to nurture regional talent. This agreement marks the first step of substantive projects following that, focusing on the early discovery and support of science prodigies at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The company plans to provide effective support by linking each institute's specialized education capabilities with Kakao's infrastructure and field experience programs.

"It is meaningful to be able to provide an AI education environment for regional gifted students together with the four science and technology institutes that have nurtured Korea's science and technology talent," Kim Young-deok, head of the Kakao AI Dot Center, said. "We will work to discover and nurture teenage AI entrepreneurs early."

Kakao Group plans to push for comprehensive revitalization of the regional AI ecosystem centered on "Kakao AI Dot." Together with the four institutes, it plans to pursue various projects, including helping not only regional youth but also regional university students and researchers start AI businesses, and establishing AX-based startup models that solve issues in region-specific industries.