GS Retail Partners with Startups to Boost Innovation Drive

GS Retail is accelerating cooperation with promising startups to envision an innovative retail future. At its core is 'The GS Challenge Future Retail' program, a startup discovery and nurturing initiative jointly promoted with the Seoul Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, which recently successfully concluded its 2nd cohort's performance sharing session. At this event, held on January 28th at GS Tower in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the 4-month collaboration results presented by six innovative startups selected for the 2nd cohort—StudioLab, Tilda, Oasis Business, YesPlzAI, VESSL AI, and LaonData—were shared. These startups successfully carried out Proof-of-Concept (PoC) by integrating advanced technologies such as Generative AI (GenAI) and Digital Transformation (DX) into GS Retail's extensive business areas. In particular, the collaboration with StudioLab in the automatic generation of e-commerce detailed product pages and the project with Tilda for logistics optimization captured the attention of attendees. Employees, including GS Retail CEO Huh Seo-hong, and startup representatives gathered to collectively envision the blueprint for future retail. Based on these achievements, GS Retail plans to further expand cooperation with the six startups and has already begun preparing to recruit for the 3rd cohort in the second half of the year, showing no pause in its stride towards innovation. This program, which began in 2023, provides selected startups with 10 million won in Proof-of-Concept funding, as well as GS Retail's extensive business infrastructure and expert mentoring, opening up tangible growth opportunities. Lee Sung-hwa, Head of GS Retail's New Business Division, emphasized, "This collaboration has become an explosive growth engine for both GS Retail and the startups," and expressed his aspiration to "continue leading innovation in the retail industry through open innovation and contribute to the development of the startup ecosystem."