Ubergizmo was invited to be a jury member of the World Media Awards of the Korea-U.S. Startup Summit (aka, Korea-US SMEs go TOGETHER) innovation occasion held in New York Metropolis on September 20 and 21, 2022, and we obliged. For an summary of the occasion, learn our earlier publish.
After speaking to greater than 20 firms at varied pavilions and evaluating their merchandise and applied sciences, we have now nominated 5 firms whose merchandise resonate with us. Right here they’re beneath, in reverse order:
#5 Lawfully
Lawfully is a service that helps hopeful US immigrants monitor their circumstances with the US Immigration Companies. CEO Joon Ahn leads the corporate, and one among its co-founders is an NYC immigration lawyer.
Having gone by means of the visa, inexperienced card, and US Citizenship course of, I may have an knowledgeable view of their product. Lawfully makes use of the newest authorities information feeds and processes to provide potential immigrants a world perspective that’s up to date day by day, typically a number of occasions.
For instance, it’s attainable to know if the precise immigration heart by which an individual’s file is making regular progress by monitoring the variety of circumstances processed day by day. By analyzing the successes and rejected circumstances, Lawfully may also spot particular ache factors and lift consciousness to customers as they file their purposes. That would save months by avoiding a re-submission, for instance.
The fundamental service is free, however there are premium options, and extra correct information customers pays for. There’s additionally the potential of asking inquiries to immigration attorneys and get a reply in minutes. The attorneys decide the charge by slices of 15mn. From what we are able to inform, costs within the vary of $45-$65 are affordable for this service. Lawfully pockets a small charge because the intermediate.
Total, I’d have used this if it existed again then to make sure that issues had been shifting and that the data I submitted didn’t want further warning.
#4 Teuida Inc
Teuida is a Korean-learning app for English or Vietnamese audio system. The app takes a special strategy by specializing in real-world conditions the place you possibly can perceive the context and vocabulary, and grammar.
That is a superb methodology of studying languages, in my view. I Converse three languages (English, French, and Vietnamese), and this system seems fairly conducive to quick and sturdy studying, in my view. That’s in stark distinction with different strategies I’ve been uncovered to, particularly the educational type we’ve discovered at college.
Primarily based on their information, Teuida seen that greater than 90% of their customers are ladies (teenagers to younger adults) studying Korean as a result of they observe KPOP artists or TV Present actors. They’ve added interactions primarily based on these matters and universes which may present further incentive and enjoyable to their person base.
Teuida CEO Ji Woong Jang talked about that nearly everybody within the firm speaks a couple of language, and I can’t consider a greater approach to relate to their clients.
#3 POEN
POEN stands for POsitive Vitality and is a startup centered on re-purposing used battery packs. As such, they’re forward of the incoming wave of used batteries, which I about to hit the world as EV skyrocket in reputation.
Battery recycling is a difficult drawback and an afterthought for a lot of the business and the final discourse round going “all-electric.” Nonetheless, it’s some of the vital challenges to sort out if we need to make that inexperienced future occur.
POEN goals to rebuild new battery packs by re-using particular person cells when attainable and re-grouping them collectively into a brand new pack. They work with various kinds of cells and have developed a failure trigger evaluation and inspection methodology that enables them to identify cells that may be reused.
In some circumstances, it’s attainable to reconstruct a battery pack match for an electrical automobile (EV), which is the best choice. Different occasions, the cells will be re-assembled into packs destined to less-demanding purposes similar to energy banks or e-bikes.
CEO Seong-Jin Choi talked about that if the batteries usually are not usable, POEN can discharge them with a self-developed system and course of the uncooked supplies to recuperate the essential components to provide the “Black powder,” which is crucial to Lithium-Ion batteries.
#2 Mycell
Mycel is an organization that makes use of mushrooms’ mycelium (the basis construction) as its base part to provide synthetic leather-based and even meals merchandise. The concept got here from Mycel CEO Sungjin Sah and has yielded an impressively shut replica of leather-based.
Even upon shut inspection and contact, it’s troublesome to inform if it’s real leather-based since Mycel can reproduce the feel and appear of real leather-based and its pure sturdiness. In keeping with the corporate, the Mycel leather-based efficiency is comparable nearly to pure leather-based.
Since leather-based has fallen out of grace due to adjustments in company practices and its excessive carbon footprint, a product of this high quality satisfies high-end manufacturers looking for higher ESG scores with out compromising the standard.
As for the meals side, Mycel factors out that it may produce a pure ingredient that may add texture to a plethora of plant-based meat merchandise. Nonetheless, whereas the market is doubtlessly bigger, there’s a have to customise the mycelium product for every area/tradition. That could be a well-known problem, and corporations like Coca-cola or McDonals adapt their merchandise on a regional foundation.
#1 Greenwhale World
Greenwhale international has impressed us with a bio-degradable,non-toxic, plastic materials that appears and feels similar to our digital devices’ common plastic (one may even eat it). Nonetheless, their bio-degradable product will utterly disappear after a few years, whereas plastic may keep round and stay poisonous for hundreds of years.
Greenwhale’s bio-plastic isn’t solely better-looking than any competitor we’ve seen, additionally it is cheaper to provide, a major benefit in an business the place prices drive many selections. Whereas their product stays 1.5X costlier than polluting plastics, it’s as much as 2X extra inexpensive than bio-degradable alternate options.
And similar to common plastics, Greenwhale’s bio-plastic is delivered in pellets, and there are solely minor tweaks to the manufacturing line to make use of it.
That mentioned, Greenwhale founders Jiyoung Hwang and Taekyun Yoon observe this product is natural, so if uncovered to fixed moisture, some decay may seem, in contrast to polluting plastic. That mentioned, the quick objective is to exchange one-time-use plastic similar to plastic baggage, utensils and different merchandise with brief life spans.
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