[Digital Today reporter Daegeon Seok] SK is moving to make business cooperation more concrete with social ventures that have moved beyond the early startup stage. Happynarae, an SK-founded social enterprise, confirmed nine companies for the first SK Impact Booster cohort and held an orientation on July 21 at SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, it said on July 22. On that basis, SK will step up business cooperation and growth support for the selected companies.

SK Impact Booster is a programme launched in May. It finds social ventures that pursue both solving social problems and generating profit and that have moved past the early startup stage into a growth phase. It provides opportunities for business cooperation with SK member companies and business support funding. It is overseen by the SV Committee of the SK Supex Council and jointly operated with Happynarae.

SK selected nine companies through a three-step process of an expert document review, an assessment by working-level departments at SK member companies and interviews. It comprehensively evaluated growth potential and the synergy of business cooperation with SK member companies. The selected firms are spread evenly across various industries, including environment and energy, industrial safety and security, and AI and AX. The final selected companies are DeepingSource, StarsTech, AimIntelligence, Ents, NT, AldoWan, Jaclyn, Teracle and FirstLab.

Selected companies will receive 10 million won in business support funding. If they cooperate with SK member companies, they will also receive up to 60 million won in additional funding for PoC projects, demonstration programmes that verify prototypes in real-world settings. Support will also include sector-specific expert mentoring as well as links to legal, public relations and investment attraction. The support is provided through four methods: business support funding, PoC project funding, mentoring, and PR and investment links. Applications closed on the 3rd of last month, with more than 300 social ventures applying.

SK plans to match business demand from working-level departments at SK member companies with the selected firms' technological capabilities. It aims to make cooperation models more concrete across areas including the introduction of safe AI without social side effects, carbon reduction, resource circulation, and removal of harmful substances and safety assurance at industrial sites. SK member companies will draw up detailed business execution plans together with the selected firms.

Cho Min-young (조민영), head of the SV Innovation Division at Happynarae, said the call confirmed strong interest and demand for a programme that supports growth-stage social ventures. She said it would not spare practical support, including business cooperation with SK member companies and funding support, so that social ventures preparing to leap forward can take another step at an important inflection point for growth.