Gwanak-gu, led by District Mayor Park Jun-hee, signed a three-way MOU with the Gwanak Small and Venture Business Promotion Agency and nine Gwanak S Valley companies on July 31 to support public-service technology pilots for Gwanak S Valley firms.
The agreement builds a Gwanak-model cooperation framework between public institutions and startups, strengthening a mutual partnership between the district and companies conducting technology pilots to actively support Gwanak S Valley firms in entering the business-to-government market.
The Gwanak S Valley Public Service Pilot Support Project is a flagship initiative helping startups demonstrate their technologies and break into the public market. Under the arrangement, Seoul National University's Campus Town handles company discovery and public institution-company matching; the Gwanak Small and Venture Business Promotion Agency oversees technology pilot support and results sharing; and Gwanak-gu provides administrative backing for linked pilot projects while actively incorporating successful cases into policy and promoting them publicly.
Earlier, the district held a two-day Gwanak S Valley Innovative Technology Showcase starting May 26. The event brought together 11 departments of the Gwanak-gu office, along with public institutions including community welfare centers, high schools and Seoul National University, and about 20 Gwanak S Valley companies for one-on-one meetups. After an intensive matching process, nine companies were ultimately selected.
The nine companies confirmed for the final matching — Goldenwalnut, Gravylab, Noilab, Delvine, MyMeta, Blockspooon, OnOut, Careerable and TwoPit — will now move into full-scale pilots under the MOU. Holding advanced technologies across AI, edutech, welfare and care, and administrative solutions, the companies will apply their technologies directly in the second half of the year at six Gwanak-gu office departments as well as at community welfare centers, high schools and Seoul National University, running public pilot demonstration projects on-site.
Building on the second-half pilot operations, the district plans to hold an open innovation event tied to the Gwanak S Valley Startup Festival, where outstanding cases will be presented and prize money awarded to top-performing companies.
"It is deeply meaningful that this year, through the organic collaboration of Gwanak-gu, Seoul National University Campus Town and the Gwanak Small and Venture Business Promotion Agency, we can provide real opportunities to Gwanak S Valley startups seeking to enter the public market," District Mayor Park said. "We will continue to advance the Gwanak-model cooperation framework so that companies' cutting-edge technologies drive administrative innovation in public institutions, and build an ever stronger cooperative ecosystem in which local companies can grow together."
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