Nine companies were awarded the Grand Innovation Award, and 27 were awarded the Innovation Award. Daegu and EXCO laid the foundation for fostering innovative technology in mobility, IT, and robotics.
Daegu Metropolitan City and EXCO selected 36 companies showcasing the most innovative technologies and products at the Future Innovation Tech Expo 2024 (FIX 2024) as the winners of the FIX Innovation Awards.
On October 22, Daegu hosted the 2024 FIX Innovation Awards Ceremony at the Grand Ballroom, EXCO. Global media, such as Le Café Du Geek (France), ET Auto (India), and Chinabyte (China), along with domestic media, award winners, judges, and over 100 industry professionals, will attend.
This year’s first edition of the FIX Innovation Awards has evaluated products showcased at ‘FIX 2024’ in future mobility (autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, and secondary batteries), ABB (AI, Big Data, Blockchain), and robotics. The winners were selected based on evaluations of innovation, technology, business viability, and social/environmental utility (ESG), with higher overall scores in each category determining the recipients.
This awards program aims to “discover and nurture innovative companies with world-class technology and competitiveness.” In line with this mission, 210 companies participated in future mobility, ABB, and robotics, leading to intense competition.
Daegu City Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Jeong Jang-soo gave an opening speech at the awards ceremony. He emphasized, “FIX Innovation Awards kick off FIX 2024, an essential event where we showcase the state of cutting-edge technology.” He explained that FIX was conceived from questions he and Mayor Hong Joon-pyo raised during their visits to CES: “Why do Korean companies have to flock to CES in the U.S. to see innovation? Why isn’t there such an expo here in Korea?”
He continued, “With FIX, we decided to lead a new chapter for innovation and industries. Although we’re just beginning and have room to grow compared to CES or MWC, I’m committed to making FIX synonymous with cutting-edge technology. Soon, global innovators will say, ‘Let’s go to FIX.'”
Deputy Mayor Jeong celebrated the recipients, saying, “Each of you at this award ceremony embodies innovation and the future. We aim to grow FIX so that being part of the first-ever FIX Innovation Awards is something to be proud of.” This year’s winners will receive business consulting and other support, collaborating with DGB Financial Group and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund to help them expand globally as “Glocal startups.”
Noting startups’ challenges in securing funding and global footholds, Mr. Jeong remarked, “FIX Innovation Awards are just the beginning of a startup ecosystem that will propel high-tech companies from small and medium-sized enterprises to global players. We will support these companies, making this award worth far more than its financial value.”
Mr. Jeong closed with a call for collaboration, adding, “What companies develop isn’t just for profit; it’s a path to better lives for humanity. When shared globally, innovation flourishes. Daegu will do everything it can to ensure FIX supports companies in meaningful ways.”
Daegu City held a call for candidate companies for about 45 days to prepare for this awards ceremony starting in July. The judging panel conducted a fair evaluation process, and nine companies were selected for the Grand Innovation Award and 27 for the Innovation Award, which recognizes those driving innovation in South Korea’s industrial ecosystem.
The Grand Innovation Award winners in the Future Mobility category, presented by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
• HEI is a supplier of the software solution Biifore, which can quickly and accurately assess and predict the state of health (SOH) of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This solution enhances the safety of the EV industry and balances the asymmetry of battery info. While the user charges the vehicle, the HEI server diagnoses and calculates the SOH of the vehicle’s battery in under a minute and then shares the result through the app. This prevents fire and damage caused by battery failure independently from the car manufacturers, ensuring fair analysis and clean data.
• OKSAN is a company developing an AI-based behavior prediction pedestrian safety system. Its safety system calculates the distance between a vehicle and people pictured from a camera. People detected far away are marked in yellow rectangle, while those nearby are marked in red rectangle.
• AEOL Korea is a supplier of resource-recycling MOF electrodes. Its solution enables the reuse of MOF for various industries beyond recycling them into new energy storage with MOF-Based supercapacitor electrode materials. Recycled MOF electrodes have been used for a hybrid dehumidification system that won the CES Innovation Awards 2024 Honoree and for a food storage container that enhances freshness and edibility.
• KOREA METAL SILICON is a provider of ultra-precise silicon materials. They produce silicon powder, nano-silicon, and micro-silicon powders, all beneficial and necessary materials for powering future mobility technologies.
The Grand Innovation Award winners in the Robotics category, presented by the Chairman of Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT)
• AETECH developed the crewless robotic recycling center solution AIRO-MRF and an AI-based waste sorting robot solution utilizing object recognition technology ATron. ATron achieves 99.3% accuracy, sorts 96 waste items per minute, and distinguishes between 43 types of materials based on seven recycling categories (PET, PE, PS, glass, cans, and others). AIRO-MRF facility consists of over 30 ATron robots and a circular conveyor belt as core equipment. This venture positions AETECH as a key player in the rapidly growing plastic recycling market and establishes the facility as a flagship for future developments.
• TWINNY is a provider of autonomous robot-based picking solutions. It developed the self-driving robot series NarGo and the object-following robot TarGo. It also created the self-driving robot platform TARP that powers its TARAS, a multi-robot allocation system in which the most optimized robot finds its location and transports goods.
Grand Innovation Award winners in the ABB category, presented by the Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City
• Phantomics Inc. develops and supplies the AI-based automatic diagnosis solution Myomics. Phantomics possesses image biomarker technology that provides rapid and accurate diagnostic results through medical images such as MRI or CT. Based on this technology, the company introduced the myocardial disease diagnostic solution ‘Myomics.’ Recognizing such technological capabilities, Phantomics received the Innovation Award in the digital healthcare sector at CES 2024.
• VISIONSPACE supplies real-time robot monitoring and integrated control services using AI and digital twins. VISIONSPACE’s AI 3D generator automatically creates warehouses and factories, enabling users to pre-position equipment and machinery using over 1,000 3D assets, enabling faster decision-making based on this setup. Using its proprietary algorithm and robot behavior analysis data, the company simulates optimized robot and equipment paths and provides real-time remote control.
• ILias AI developed an Olfactory AI digital sniffer dog. The company provides olfactory AI-based safety and medical services by collecting every existing olfactory data. It also targets developing various olfactory AI industries through on-demand digital olfactory data services. Olfactory AI Digital Sniffer Dog is a scanner detecting prohibited items of visitors and their belongings at multiple places such as airports, harbors, government buildings, schools, and facilities with large numbers of visitors. The Olfactory AI Digital Sniffer Dog utilizes ILias AI’s olfactory AI technology.
The award-winning companies will receive various fostering (accelerating) programs, including ESG consulting and technology assessment consulting, U-CONNECT IR pitching and VC networking opportunities, and recommendations as candidates for the ‘Glocal Startup Support Program.’ They will also have opportunities for online promotion through prominent domestic and international media, as well as chances for buyer-matching consultations at the FIX 2024 exhibition. Additionally, they will benefit from discounted participation fees for the following year’s FIX event.
Daegu City stated, “The companies awarded the FIX Innovation Awards were selected based on professional and rigorous standards set by global VC and specialized institutions.” They added, “This awards program aims not only to discover companies with outstanding technologies but also to actively support the awardees in growing and developing into capable firms that can lead new industries on a global stage through various programs.”
FIX 2024 features specialized exhibitions, conferences, and business programs focusing on mobility, robotics, AI, and startups. The Daegu International Future Auto & Mobility Expo 2024 at EXCO’s East Wing will showcase trends in UAM, autonomous driving, batteries, components, and services. Meanwhile, the 2024 ICT Convergence Expo Korea, held in the West Wing, will exhibit AI, big data, blockchain, ICT, and metaverse technologies. The 2024 Daegu Robot Expo will display industrial robots, humanoid robots, and digital transformation solutions for the robotics industry. The “Start-up Arena” will also be newly launched, facilitating meetings between startups and experts from startup accelerators like Samsung C-Lab and Plug and Play.