– WadizShifts Focus to Growth Support Following Funding Challenges… Expanding the Funding Ecosystem
–Wadiz Next Brand,” a comprehensive support program offering direct investment, domestic and international market expansion, and matched loans
– Representatives from startups selected for the Next Brand program, retail industry professionals, and others attended to explore collaboration opportunities
Wadizhosted an event to showcase the achievements of its growth support programs for promising startups and small and medium-sized businesses and to explore opportunities for collaboration.
Life design funding platform Wadizannounced on the 3rd that it had successfully concluded the second showcase of “wadiz NEXT BRAND,” operated Wadiz, at the Wadiz in Pangyo.
Wadiz Next Brand is a mutual growth support program that proactively identifies promising startups and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and helps them scale up through Wadizinfrastructure support, including investment and loans. A key feature of the program is that selected companies can receive not only various follow-up distribution support but also recommendations for up to 100 million won in investment per brand and up to 500 million won in “private investment-linked matching loans.”
This showcase, the second to be held since the launch of the first cohort last year, was organized as a networking event where promising brands newly selected as Next Brands over the past year and their partners gathered to explore opportunities for collaboration.
The event was attended by approximately 30 participants, including representatives from Wadiz brand incubation team, executives from the retail industry such as Lotte Home Shopping and CJ ENM, and professionals from beauty companies like P&K Skin Clinical Research Center and Cosmax. The companies selected as “Next Brands”—▲AOT Corporation, ▲HTO International, ▲Power Player, and ▲Levitate ▲Luka Lab Company—delivered presentations on their brand stories and growth potential.
Park Sang-won, CEO of Levitate, which was selected as a Next Brand, said, “Over the past year, workingWadizhas not only helped us maximize our funding results but has also been instrumental in expanding our business, including launching pop-up stores at three major department stores.” He added, “I am grateful to have found a reliable partnerWadiz, which has helped us get on a growth trajectory.”
Wadizcore role is to help promising startups that have proven their market potential through funding to build competitiveness and grow,” said So Kang-seop, Managing Director Wadiz. “We will actively invest in promising lifestyle brands that are gaining traction, such as vegan beauty and IP merchandise, and grow alongside them.”
Meanwhile, Wadizis a venture capital (VC) firm established with the aim of identifying, investing in, and nurturing promising startups. Starting as an internal investment team Wadiz, it became an independent entity in 2020. It possesses specialized expertise in investment and business incubation linked to the funding platform Wadizparent company, Wadiz. In 2023, it was selected as a private investor for the private investment-linked matching loan program run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, enabling Wadizto provide small business owners it has invested in with up to five times the investment amount, up to 500 million won.
