[Field Report] The Next Start: KT&G Sangsang Startup Camp 10th Demo Day Presents Possibility of Independence through Sustainable Business Models

On the 8th, 'The Next Start' (KT&G Sangsang Startup Camp 10th Demo Day) was held at KT&G Sangsang Planet in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.

Sangsang Startup Camp is a startup support program that KT&G has operated since 2017 to discover and nurture young entrepreneurs who seek to solve social problems through business. By establishing the KT&G Sangsang Planet base in the Seongsu-dong Social Venture Valley, KT&G has contributed to creating youth jobs and expanding the social innovation ecosystem by continuously providing initial funding, space, and customized mentoring.

This 10th cohort program went beyond simple idea-level startup support and focused on accelerating so that products and services can function in the actual market and secure sustainable revenue structures. Based on the continuity of its social contribution projects, KT&G connected promising social ventures with large corporate infrastructure and open innovation systems, while participating startups took the stage expecting follow-up investment attraction and market expansion. Attendees and venture capital (VC) representatives at the scene examined the technology-based solutions and business achievements presented by the young entrepreneurs.

The operator and impact investor, MYSC, is a professional institution that has been promoting impact investing since the early stages of the domestic social venture ecosystem. MYSC has been advancing its accelerating programs so that companies pursuing social value can secure financial soundness, and has formed and managed numerous funds combining public and private partnerships.

The keynote speech held on this day addressed the long-term challenges faced by entrepreneurs and survival strategies in the market. In particular, as ways to realize the sustainability of social ventures, multifaceted performance recovery methods were presented, such as financial exit, strategic exit through combination with large corporations and public institutions, ecosystemic exit by becoming an industry standard, and policy exit leading to systems and budgets. This highlighted that impact investing must not stop at simple capital injection but must lead to actual business performance.

Ten teams, which underwent a selection process and conducted practical accelerating and market verification for four months, participated in this 10th Demo Day. The participating companies are Matchwork (CEO Kwon Su-yeon), Refill (CEO Lee Ji-eun), DevD (CEO Kim Ki-tae), Ripple (CEO Lee Hui-eun), Cyclex (CEO Ryu Jun-sang), Ttaktakguri (CEO Yu Ji-eun), WeFair (CEO Kim Gi-hwan), Wings (CEO Choi Jin-yeong), Circular Labs (CEO Choi Hee-jin), and Plak (CEO Lee Eun-ji).

They presented business models to solve specific social problems, ranging from education/content solutions combined with AI recommendation algorithms to resource circulation, carbon reduction technology, and employment/job linkage platforms for vulnerable groups. During the presentations, practical business growth indicators such as revenue metrics, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and customer lifetime value (LTV) were disclosed, and follow-up meetings and networking with stakeholders took place in the booth areas.

True impact investing is completed when a company moves away from a structure that relies on government subsidies or one-time corporate sponsorships and can become independent through its own business model (BM). No matter how excellent the justification for creating social value is, it is difficult for a company to survive if it lacks the economic utility and product competitiveness for customers to pay for it.

The business presentations of the participating companies focused on showing the ability to optimize cost structures and generate cash flow based on market demand. Moving away from the stage of depending on subsidies and creating a virtuous cycle of covering operating costs with own revenue and continuing reinvestment was the core value that the 10th cohort participants collectively sought to prove.

From the perspective of a startup mentor, the Sangsang Startup Camp Demo Day is an important opportunity for early-stage companies to accept cold market feedback and verify business hypotheses. Early startups should not limit their use of such stages to simple corporate promotion or one-time presentation opportunities.

In the process of preparing for the event, they must check the vulnerabilities of their own BM and identify the realistic market demands not contained in their business plans through Q&A sessions with professional investment firms attending the scene. In particular, practical growth engines can only be secured if execution is accompanied by organizing the contents of meetings with investors after the Demo Day and linking them to product improvement and follow-up investment attraction. Attendees and early entrepreneurs also need to take this as a learning opportunity to objectively compare and check their own business models by observing the presentation methods and crisis response strategies of other teams.

An official from a participating company met at the scene said, "During this camp period, we focused on verifying business models that remained as hypotheses with field data and establishing unit economics," and "Through the Demo Day, we were able to start specific practical discussions with numerous institutional investors and large corporate cooperation partners, and we will continue to prove social value in the market based on a sustainable revenue model."

The 10th cohort Demo Day of Sangsang Startup Camp showed the efforts of young entrepreneurs to build sustainable business models and secure market trust beyond a simple will to solve social problems. It can be evaluated as a case where KT&G's continuous support for the startup ecosystem and MYSC's professional accelerating combine to support the growth of early-stage companies. Attention is now focused on whether the participating companies can establish self-sufficiency through follow-up investment attraction and practical revenue growth, and establish themselves as success stories in the domestic impact ecosystem.

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