{"id":2742,"date":"2016-04-22T15:09:38","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T07:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.innovationiseverywhere.com\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2016-04-22T15:09:38","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T07:09:38","slug":"visit-futureplay-koreas-hard-tech-startup-accelerator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovationiseverywhere.com\/fr\/visit-futureplay-koreas-hard-tech-startup-accelerator\/","title":{"rendered":"A visit of FuturePlay, Korea\u2019s hard tech startup accelerator"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to find the good wording for FuturePlay<\/a>, as its founder Jung-Hee Ryu<\/a> says it\u2019s not an accelerator per se, and the entities they take care of are not \u00ab\u00a0startups\u00a0\u00bb <\/em>but \u00ab\u00a0techups<\/em>\u00ab\u00a0<\/strong>, to stress the strong technology DNA<\/strong> of the ventures he supports in their growth.<\/p>\n

\"futureplay<\/p>\n

So no e-commerce or photo-sharing app here, but rather amazing technologies developed in part by engineers from KAIST<\/a>, Korea\u2019s MIT<\/strong>, and their Korean or US partners.<\/p>\n

Jung-Hee himself is a KAIST PhD and entrepreneur, as he sold a previous startup in face-recognition to Intel.<\/p>\n

From tech founders to global entrepreneurs<\/h2>\n

His bet with FuturePlay is to empower hardware companies<\/strong>, traditionally strong in Korea as well as Taiwan and Japan, and turn them into global players. A key support he provides is patent and IP services.<\/p>\n

So far, 39 of these techups<\/strong> have benefited from the support of his team, made out of 5 partners and 11 specialists in IP, design, hardware and more.<\/p>\n

The methodologies they use help technologists to create actual business<\/strong>, which answers needs. To do so, FuturePlay help them to refine the technology and make it a useful product.<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MONy1hgQ4SQ<\/p>\n

For instance Awair<\/a>, a sensor and app of the air quality, was originally a body sensor<\/strong>, but after several rounds of study with doctors<\/strong>, the team found out it would be better as a standalone product and a dedicated app. Today, they work closely with the Mayo Clinic<\/strong> to help their staff get data on the quality of air in the rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cManufacturing is not an issue, we focus on the business side. Iterations of the product itself happen every week or so, and after a year of support, those companies reach a stage where they can raise more fund and go to market\u201d,<\/em> he says.<\/p>\n

A look at FuturePlay’s portfolio<\/h2>\n