Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus

On March 19th, the opening ceremony of Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus was held at the Soulbrain Building in Pangyo 2nd Techno Valley, the center of IT and deep-tech innovation in South Korea. President Kim Jin-sang said in his congratulatory speech, "The role of the university must now evolve beyond simple convergence education into a transdisciplinary dimension of educating and researching together with companies and local governments outside the fence, and this place will be the stepping stone for that innovation." Yoo Sang-hee, an Assistant Manager of the Business Incubator, who directed the event, also expressed his expectations, saying, "I feel proud to establish a close cooperation system with the startup ecosystem through Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus and lay a stepping stone for fostering talent and technological innovation in future industries."

the opening ceremony of Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus

Practical Space Design Coexisting with Startups and Students

Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus, seen during the facility tour immediately after the opening ceremony, focuses on venture incubation and practical startup education. Seven incubation rooms for the regular work of startups are established in the space of Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus, located on the second and third floors of the Soulbrain building, a space cooperation partner. The most notable point is that about 40% of the total space has been allocated as a common educational space that general students can also use. Equipped with a co-working lounge, focus room, cafe lounge, as well as multipurpose conference rooms and seminar rooms, students can experience the practical field of tenant companies right next door while conducting special startup lectures or team projects.

facility tour & facilities of Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus

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Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus as a Core Base for the RISE Project

The operation of Pangyo VI Campus is closely aligned with the Regional Innovation System & Education (RISE) project with Gyeonggi-do. The RISE project is a large-scale national project in which local governments and universities cooperate to lead regional development and foster future industrial talent. According to the project report by Choi Seok-won, vice-director of RISE, the University has upgraded its startup support system into a three-stage roadmap as part of the Pangyo 20+ Alpha Project. The first stage, "initial startup," is exclusively handled by the startup education center at Woojungwon on Global Campus, and the second stage, "leap startup," is managed by the Business Incubator at Aejiwon. Through this process, it is a regional growth-type virtuous cycle structure that discovers and lays the foundation for about 130 preliminary startups annually, and advances about 20 "growth-type startups" with verified specialized capabilities to the final third-stage base, Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus, for intensive fostering.

planning and goals of Kyung Hee's business incubating

photo: Business Incubator(khu.ac.kr)

'5C Strategy' and Industry-Academic Networking for Practical Leap

Detailed support programs beyond providing space are also in preparation. The Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation has prepared a step-by-step "5C Strategy" leading from idea pitching (Capture) to practical capacity building (Class), mentoring and funding (Comfort), market pioneering (Connect), and success (suCcess). Assistant Manager Yoo said, "The program will be carried out not only with our university but also with neighboring startup support organizations." She added, "The schedule is not yet clearly set due to issues such as budget confirmation, but we will provide various programs from June this year to February next year." In addition, regarding the establishment of a networking channel between student startup teams and venture company working-level staff, she added, "We plan to operate a joint program through close cooperation with the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, an external affiliated organization," showing her will toward practical industry-academic exchanges.

'5C Strategy' and Industry-Academic Networking for Practical Leap

photo: Business Incubator(khu.ac.kr)

Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus is a startup-oriented specialized infrastructure distinguished from traditional campuses where lectures and research are the main focus. President Kim clarified the campus's direction, saying, "I am confident that we will present a new path that opens the future of South Korea based on the cooperation and challenges among students, professors, and companies taking place here." Connecting the University, the region, and furthermore the global industrial ecosystem three-dimensionally, Kyung Hee Pangyo VI Campus has begun full-scale operation as an outpost of industry-academic cooperation that realizes transdisciplinary innovation and fosters preliminary entrepreneurs into unicorn companies.