Alibaba Cloud announced today the winners from its startup contest, Create@ Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest (CACSC) Seoul 2018. DoubleMe (real-time, personal holoportation platform company) and Beflex (biomechanics and exercise posture wearable solution company), which came in at 1st and 2nd place respectively, will advance to the CACSC global final on November 15-16 in Hangzhou, China.

The contest, held at Yeouido FKI Hall on September 3 and co-hosted by Alibaba Cloud, Korea Innovation Center (KIC) China, and the Federation of Korean Industries, attracted a crowd of 100 people, composed of startups, entrepreneurs, and leaders from IT, VC, and the government. Twenty Korean startups from South Korea and 5 winning Chinese startups from the Changchun CACSC preliminary pitched their business cases in front of a panel of judges. Fu Gui, counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in the R.O.K., Kkotmaeum Kim, Manager of the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, and Hwan Ig Yu, head of Innovative Growth Department of the Federation of Korean Industries, gave congratulatory speeches at the event.

Following a pitch process, DoubleMe and Beflex came in 1st and 2nd place respectively, each winning the equivalent of 50,000 USD credit for Alibaba Cloud computing technology services. They will advance to the global CACSC final on November 15-16 in Hangzhou, where they will present their business cases to the judge panel to compete to become the global final champion. The global champion will receive the following benefits: up to 600,000 RMB support fund (business registration in Hangzhou required for eligibility, details to be announced at global final), acceptance into Alibaba Innovation Center’s global strategic customer support program, inclusion as success case in Alibaba’s Cloud Innovation book, priority incubation and co-branding at the Alibaba Innovation Center’s 43 branches worldwide.

Coming in at 3rd and 4th place were Security Platform and YIQI Technology. They were each awarded 10,000 USD Alibaba Cloud credit. These teams will attend the global CACSC final as guests, where they will have a Q&A with the judge panel, without pitching but with a project/company brief on the stage screen.

The top four teams will receive Alibaba Cloud and Korea Innovation Center (KIC) China’s joint incubation in China, where they will receive technical support and business networking opportunities from Alibaba Cloud. They will also receive KIC China’s Chinese investor relations and mentoring service, three months’ working space in Beijing, and round-way flight and temporary Beijing accommodation support. They will also have the opportunity to present at the SB Cloud Create@Tokyo contest in Tokyo on October 9.

“Create@Alibaba Cloud celebrates the innovation of startups and provides these exciting drivers of change with access to Alibaba Cloud’s technology, global resources, and incubation support. Alibaba Cloud is pleased to support Korean startups driving digital transformation, and provide them with the resources to grow their business globally,” said Leo Liu, General Manager of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea region, Alibaba Cloud.

Hwan Ig Yu, head of Innovative Growth Department of the Federation of Korean Industries, said, “FKI will strive to act as a bridge between startups and conglomerates in Korea for startups’ overseas expansion.”