The Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (CEO Won-kyung Kim, hereinafter referred to as the Gyeonggi Innovation Center) announced on the 12th that it successfully concluded the '2025 CCEI x Alcove Global Funding Challenge' co-hosted with North American-based global venture capital firm Alcove Investment Management (CEO Ji-geon Hong, hereinafter referred to as Alcove) and confirmed an investment of up to 250 million won in the winning company Konnect.
Alcove is a global VC firm with approximately $300 million in assets under management (AUM), investing broadly in deep tech startups ranging from early-stage to Series B across North America and Asia. This global funding challenge marks the first collaborative effort since the two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding in July. The project was co-planned with an overseas VC and operated as a confirmed investment structure, resulting in actual investments.
A total of 35 startups applied for this program, and five teams advanced to the finals after an online preliminary round based on their technological prowess and marketability. The final round featured on-site presentations and an in-depth Q&A session, and Connect, an AI startup developing a passport-based integrated lifestyle platform for foreigners, was selected as the final winner.
▲Dobi Canvas (AI-based user interactive game) ▲ST Labs (infrared AI real-time material recognition technology) ▲Abo Labs (AI B2B edutech solution) ▲The Dimension Company (AI CAD agent) participated in the finals, and all companies that advanced to the finals, excluding the winning company, will receive follow-up support such as follow-up individual meetings with Alcove, additional investment review, and connection to a network of experts.
Kim Won-kyung, CEO of the Gyeonggi Innovation Center, said, “This global funding challenge is the first open challenge among the national Creative Economy Innovation Centers to be conducted in collaboration with overseas VCs, and is a representative example of global strategy execution.” He added, “We will continue to diversify our cooperation with overseas investors to expand opportunities for domestic startups to advance overseas and attract global investment.”
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