Shinhan Financial Group partners with three startups for AI and care pilots

Shinhan Financial Group and the Seoul Metropolitan Government awarded 30 million won in prize money to Klleon, Caring, and Fairy Tech during the 5th Finovation Challenge held at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul on the 26th. The selected startups will collaborate with Shinhan affiliates to pilot technologies ranging from AI digital human training to senior care financial education.

Affiliates of Shinhan Financial Group have verified the potential for applying innovative technologies and services in the financial field by partnering with startups possessing advanced capabilities. Klleon, an AI digital human company; Caring, a senior care company; and Fairy Tech, an on-device AI company, collaborated with Shinhan affiliates in the fields of professional financial personnel training, digital financial education, and customized marketing solutions, respectively.

On the 26th, at the 'Seoul Fintech Week 2026' held at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, Shinhan Bank, alongside Shinhan Card, Shinhan Securities, Shinhan Life, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, presented awards to the three outstanding companies of the '2026 5th Finovation Challenge.' Klleon received the Seoul Mayor's Award, Caring received the Shinhan Innovation Award, and Fairy Tech received the Finovation Award.

A total of 30 million won in prize money was awarded to the three outstanding companies, with 10 million won given to each. Shinhan Financial Group and the Seoul Metropolitan Government plan to support the companies through residency at Seoul Fintech Lab and the Shinhan Future's Lab nurturing program, while also reviewing joint commercialization and continuing follow-up collaborations with group affiliates.

A Shinhan Bank official stated, "This challenge served as an opportunity for startups and financial companies to confirm the usability of technology and build collaborative experience together. Moving forward, we will continue to cooperate with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to support promising startups in growing stably and discover products and services that can enhance financial convenience for customers."

#Finovation Challenge

Klleon, recipient of the Seoul Mayor's Award, is a company possessing AI digital human technology capable of conversing with humans. This technology is applied to customer response, guidance, and education. During this challenge, Klleon collaborated with Shinhan Life to introduce and verify a financial professional training solution utilizing generative AI humans.

A representative service in the education field is 'Rolfit Studio,' which was launched on the 6th of this month. The AI acts as a conversation partner, such as a customer, to assist in consultation and sales training. When an instructor sets the business situation and the role, personality, and attitude of the counterpart, trainees practice their response methods by conversing with the AI avatar.

Rolfit Studio can be utilized for tasks that require explaining things based on the questions and reactions of a counterpart, such as insurance agents' customer consultations or financial asset management consultations. Users can prepare for various situations by changing the personality and conversation difficulty of the counterpart, and can review the conversation results and AI feedback after training is complete.

Jin Seung-hyeok, CEO of Klleon, stated at the time of the service launch, "Knowing business knowledge and effectively speaking and responding in front of customers or colleagues are entirely different competencies. We will develop the product so that real-world conversation with AI becomes a standard learning method for corporate training."

Caring, recipient of the Shinhan Innovation Award, is a professional senior care company. Since starting home nursing services in 2019, it has expanded its business into family care, daycare, and home bathing. The company directly operates services where caregivers visit homes or seniors receive care at centers during the day, building an infrastructure that connects necessary care within the region.

Recently, in response to the entry into a super-aged society, the company expanded its business into 'Caring Stay,' an urban senior residential space that combines independent daily life with professional nursing care. Based on this technological capability, Caring achieved 165.8 billion won in consolidated revenue last year and attracted a Series C investment of 40 billion won early this year. It has been selected as number one in the care service category of the Korea Consumer Satisfaction Index for four consecutive years.

In this challenge, Caring worked with Shinhan Bank to promote the development of financial education and services for caregivers and seniors. Three sessions of financial fraud prevention and AI utilization training were conducted for caregivers, and discussions are ongoing regarding rights protection measures such as retirement pay guarantees, dedicated financial products, and liability insurance.

For seniors and their families, the company is strengthening guidance on public support systems such as basic pensions and long-term care insurance, and is reviewing ways to improve the convenience of paying for care services. In the future, there are plans to utilize caregivers' work history for financial credit evaluations and to develop services that support managing care costs and protecting the assets of elderly households.

Fairy Tech, recipient of the Finovation Award, is a marketing solution company that provides advertisements and benefit notifications tailored to user behavior. It supplies software development kits (SDK) to card companies and financial apps, utilizing on-device AI technology that processes data inside devices such as smartphones instead of external servers.

The core of the technology lies in identifying not only customer interests but also the timing to provide benefits. This method notifies users of relevant cashback benefits at the exact moment they attempt to launch a shopping app. The company highlights its differentiation in that it analyzes user behavior inside the device without transmitting personal information to external servers. In this challenge, Fairy Tech collaborated with Shinhan Card to advance its customized marketing solution for customers using this technology.

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