2025 Innovation Forest Awards Announce 50 Shortlisted Companies

Startup data platform ‘Innohub’ heightened anticipation by revealing the 50 second-round candidate companies for the ‘2025 Innohub Awards,’ which will illuminate the Republic of Korea’s startup ecosystem. Including the 50 first-round candidates announced in May, a total of 100 startups had the honor of being selected as this year's innovation protagonists. Celebrating its 4th anniversary this year, the Innohub Awards aims to contribute to the development of the domestic startup ecosystem and support entrepreneurs by discovering and highlighting founders who have achieved significant growth even amidst rapidly changing markets. This second round of candidates consists of 40 companies in the Integrated Sector and 10 companies in the Technology Sector. Candidates for the Integrated Sector were selected through a comprehensive evaluation that considered not only key startup growth indicators such as service visitor numbers, consumer transaction volume, employment trends, and investment attraction history, but also corporate reputation and market trends. For the Technology Sector, candidates were finalized after a multifaceted evaluation of the companies' unique technological capabilities and future growth potential, including the number and grades of patents, participation in the TIPS program, PoC (Proof of Concept) performance, technology-related awards, R&D project execution, and technical personnel composition. Numerous innovative companies were nominated in each category, showcasing the strength of South Korean startups. Hong Gyeong-pyo, CEO of Mark & Company, stated, “Through a fair and transparent selection process based on data, we sincerely wish to support startups that continuously innovate even in rapidly changing markets.” He further emphasized that “the Innohub Awards is more than just an awards ceremony; it’s a meaningful occasion where we collectively record and celebrate the growth trajectory created by startups,” and promised not to spare rewards that will aid in practical business operations and long-term sponsorship for the final award-winning companies. The final awards ceremony is scheduled to be grandly held on December 11th at COEX in Seoul and will proceed as an official program of the global startup festival ‘COME UP 2025,’ expected to inject vitality into the startup ecosystem once again. Innohub also expressed its aspiration to continue discovering the infinite possibilities of startups through the power of data and to become a strong partner in their innovative journey.