Shinhan Financial Group, Shinhan Square Bridge (S2 Bridge) Incheon Successful completion of overseas startup support program, "Bridge to Korea (B2K)"

Involvement of six global start-up companies related to deep-tech,med-tech,and digital health from Singapore,Greece,Germany,and Russia

Four strart-up companies have received domestic and foreign investment,including the dedicated funds from Shinhan Square Bridge (S2 Bridge) Incheon

Total of 28 partnerships to expand in the Asian market with the base in Korea

SEOUL,South Korea,March 3,2022 -- Shinhan Financial Group (CEO Cho Young-byung) announced that the "2021 Global Inbound Membership,Bridge to Korea (B2K 2021)" program was completed with great success on Shinhan Square Bridge (S² Bridge) Incheon,a platform that fosters start-up companies.

S2 (Shinhan Square) Bridge Incheon,B2K Demoday Banner

The "B2K 2021" program of S² Bridge Incheon is a global accelerating program that selects overseas start-up companies trying to enter the Korean market and provides customized business scale-up services for market entry,new market development,partner-seeking,and investment attraction.

In November of last year,the Shinhan Financial Group selected six start-up companies in the fields of deep-tech,and Digital health from Singapore,and Russia,and supported their three months' participation in the "B2K 2021" program.

[Reference] Start-up companies that participated in the 2021 Global Inbound Membership,Bridge to Korea (B2K)

(Company Name / Country / Field / Introduction of Technology / Website)

NDR Medical Technology / Singapore / Med-tech / Development of automated needle targeting (ANT) systems using robot vision and AI / www.ndrmedical.com

Aevice Health / Singapore / Digital Healthcare / Skin disease diagnosis services based on AI photo recognition and analysis / www.aevice.com

Fairphonic / Singapore / Music & Media Copyright / Development of AI-based copyright recognition technologies (audio fingerprinting) / www.fairphonic.com

Scanderm / Russia / Digital Healthcare / Skin disease diagnosis services based on AI photo recognition and analysis / www.scanderm.pro

VERTLINER / Greece / Robotics,ConTech,AI / Development of autonomous robot systems to evaluate interiors of buildings / www.vertliner.com

SQIN / Germany / Digital Healthcare / AI-based,personalized skin coaching and solutions / sqin.co/en/

Shinhan Financial Group provided opportunities for the selected start-up companies to cooperate with Korean conglomerates,startups,hospitals,venture capitals,and offered customized programs for △localization (PMF,PoC etc.),△market development and partnerships (MOU),△domestic investments including a dedicated fund,△professional consulting,and △legal advice.

Four of the six start-up companies (NDR Medical Technology,Fairphonic,etc.) attracted domestic and foreign investments,such as the dedicated fund for S² Bridge Incheon. They produced significant business outcomes by signing 18 partnerships and over 10 sales contracts by releasing apps and launching collaboration projects in South Korea.

In addition,the start-up companies held a showcase on the "B2K 2021" Demo Day in February to share their progress with the affiliates of Shinhan Financial Group,Celltrion,dedicated funds,and startup stakeholders. Videos on the IR Demo Day and scale-up stories of global inbound membership start-up companies can be found on the YouTube channel of S² Bridge.

Through S² Bridge Incheon,Shinhan Financial Group will seek deep-tech,bio-tech and digital health start-up companies to participate in the "2022 Global Inbound 2nd Membership,Bridge to Korea" this August.

Meanwhile,Shinhan Financial Group has created S² Bridge as a platform to accelerate start-up companies in major Korean cities like Seoul,Incheon,Jeju,and Daegu through the "Triple-K Project," which is a mid- and long-term financial innovation plan. The Group supports start-up companies with their global business expansion and acceleratesK-Unicorns.

** Triple-K Project: It is an innovative growth project of Shinhan Financial Group comprising three themes,namely "Korea Cross-Country" for creating a nationwide platform for innovative growth,"Korea to Global" allowing start-up companies to expand globally,and "K-Unicorn Project" to revitalize the national economy and achieve social values by rearing unicorn start-up companies.

** Shinhan Financial Group http://www.shinhangroup.com/en/index.jsp

** "Shinhan Square Bridge (S² Bridge) Incheon" https://s2bridge.kr/en/