Dunamu opens startup studio with Seoul National University to support young entrepreneurs

Dunamu has opened a youth startup support space in partnership with Seoul National University's business school, marking a formal push to cultivate the startup ecosystem. Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung attended a move-in welcome ceremony and pledged to support the sustainable growth of early-stage companies.

Dunamu announced Monday that it had launched the SNU x Upbit Startup Studio. A "Welcome Day" event was held Thursday to mark the occasion.

The event brought together the founders and executives of seven startups that had moved in on Sept. 1, along with Song and other Dunamu executives and faculty from SNU's business school. The seven companies selected for the studio are Breadcrumb, Stillcut, Iruri Labs, Belly Labs, Theta One Korea, Pion and Lead Axis.

Dunamu said the selected companies were recognized for their growth potential across a range of fields, including deepfake detection, medical AI, insomnia treatment and AI transformation solutions for education.

Song also took time to engage with aspiring and early-stage founders as a fellow entrepreneur and sunbae. After listening to each company's business pitch, he fielded questions submitted in advance as well as those raised on the spot. Dunamu said Song showed genuine empathy for the challenges early-stage startups face, drawing on his own experience building Upbit into a leading digital asset exchange.

Dunamu said it plans to provide free infrastructure support to the resident teams in collaboration with SNU, in line with "youth" — a core keyword in the company's environmental, social and governance strategy. Resident companies will receive dedicated office and shared spaces, as well as work equipment, for up to two years. To help boost company value, Dunamu will also offer a tailored "Value UP" program that includes expert mentoring sessions — covering legal, financial, accounting, security and marketing — and a CEO roundtable.

"In the early days of a startup, you face uncertainty that is hard to predict," Song said in his welcoming remarks. "But the process of weathering successes and failures — big and small — and turning them into results is itself one of the greatest assets an early-stage startup can have. I will share the experience I gained firsthand and do my best to serve as a pacemaker for the startups that will lead innovation in Korea, helping them achieve sustainable growth."

Park So-jung, a professor and head of the venture management interdisciplinary program at SNU's business school, offered words of encouragement. "This support space is a model of collaboration that combines the university's strong research capabilities and the potential of young people with corporate support," she said. "We are grateful to Dunamu for its generous support in building a startup ecosystem for young entrepreneurs."