Sustainable packaging firm SUPASO wins grant, office space via D.DAY event

D.CAMP, Korea’s non-profit foundation focused on helping young entrepreneurs, has joined forces with SK ecoplant Co., Ltd. to find promising startups in the so-called ESG sector. 

Earlier this month, the two jointly hosted a D.DAY X Global League competition in the heart of Seoul, evaluating firms based on these Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance standards, which look at a firm’s collective conscientiousness in terms of social and environmental factors.

D.DAY is Korea’s oldest demo event for startups and investors to showcase and examine new projects in person. 

The November 13 D.DAY X Global League event was the first of its kind to host international participants. Two startups from Korea, and one each from the United States, Austria, Cameroon, and Cambodia were selected to showcase their products to the domestic market.

Austria’s SUPASO, which manufactures sustainable packaging, won the top prize at the event for its contribution to reducing packaging waste at a time when consumption through deliveries is at an all-time high. 

According to its website, the company’s co-founder Fabian Gems believes “sustainability doesn’t need to come with lower performance or higher costs.” 

Seoul-based EcoLinks’ CEO Johnson Penn Tichaa is from Cameroon. The company plans to provide solutions for solar energy infrastructure management. Another Seoul-based company, Recoffery, hopes to utilize used coffee grinds to replace plastic. One Korean startup called Ninewatt hopes to use artificial intelligence in energy conservation.

The six participating companies also had the opportunity to discuss collaboration efforts with SK ecoplant. The building arm of Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group plans to choose one of the firms to which it will offer mentoring sessions and a chance for joint research.

D.CAMP, for its part, will provide up to 300 million won and office space to the participating startups.

By Jee Abbey Lee