A total of 122 teams from four science and technology institutes applied for Kakao Investment's AI startup support programme, 'Kakao AI Sail Departure Cohort 2'. That is 85 percent more than the previous cohort.

Kakao Investment said on the 2nd it will run 'Kakao AI Sail Departure Cohort 2', which discovers AI technologies and ideas from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and links them to startups and commercialisation.

The second cohort drew 122 teams, up 56 from 66 in the first cohort.

Kakao Investment also increased the number of winning teams and the size of prize money as participation expands. It raised final winners to 8 teams from 5 and lifted total prize money to 75 million won from 39 million won.

It will award 30 million won to 1 grand prize team, 10 million won each to 2 excellence prize teams and 5 million won each to 5 encouragement prize teams.

Participating teams propose technology and business ideas either for projects linked to businesses at Kakao and affiliates including KakaoBank, Kakao Mobility, Kakao Entertainment and Kakao Pay, or on free topics.

Final selected teams will be offered opportunities for proof of concept, or PoC, through Kakao Investment's investment review and matching with affiliate staff. Actual investment and whether to conduct a PoC will be decided through separate reviews and consultations.

In the first cohort, 5 teams won awards. Among them, 4 teams including Anibridge AI, Blackbox, Glosori and Simpobros raised investment, and PAI Research is set to sign an investment contract.

Blackbox received follow-on investment after conducting a paid PoC with Kakao Entertainment using AI-based technology that turns webtoon intellectual property into video. Anibridge AI and Bros, which develops AI-based spatial technology, also raised follow-on investment from external investors.

Kakao Investment will hold second-cohort final IR presentations and an awards ceremony on Nov. 10 at Kakao AI Campus. It plans to pursue investment reviews and PoC linkups with affiliates for the final 8 winning teams after December.

Kim Taek-hoon (김택훈), a vice president at Kakao Investment, said, "In the second cohort, we expanded the scale of awards and the scope of support so that more AI startup teams can grow in the market." He said, "We will continue support so that research teams with technology capabilities can grow into AI companies through startups, investment and business cooperation."