Asan Nanum Foundation Selects 12 New Resident Startups for Entrepreneurship Platform “MARU” (Second Half of 2024)

Asan Nanum Foundation (Chairwoman: Yoon-mi Eom) announced on the 14th that it has finalized the selection of 12 startup teams to join its entrepreneurship platform, MARU, for the second half of 2024.

Operated by Asan Nanum Foundation, MARU is an incubator designed to support the growth of startups by providing comprehensive solutions, including essential infrastructure, networks, and educational programs for founders. “MARU180” first opened in April 2014 on Yeoksam-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and “MARU360” was additionally launched in November 2021. MARU serves as a hub for “Doers” who practice and spread entrepreneurship, and as a central base for activating the startup ecosystem through collaboration with startups, domestic and global venture capital firms, and accelerators.

For this second-half intake, Asan Nanum Foundation selected a total of 12 teams: Right, Lemong, Metel, VMonster, Saucerix Korea, Allsale Corporation, Zetic AI, PowerTask, Fairy, Fit, HyperMind, and Homi AI. Among the newly selected residents, 75% are AI-based startups, developing services across diverse areas such as content generation, sales and operations management, work automation, and CRM.

The selected startups will move into the “Growth Zone” at MARU180 or MARU360, where they will receive a range of space and growth-support benefits for up to 18 months.

MARU residents are provided with office space as a baseline benefit and have free access to all MARU facilities, including meeting rooms, lounges, showers, nap rooms, and other amenities. Through membership, they can also use MARU180’s event hall and MARU360’s studio and seminar rooms at no cost.

MARU additionally offers multiple programs and benefits to accelerate startup growth. Through the “MARU Benefit” program, each team can access up to KRW 600 million worth of annual benefits, including free or discounted services in cloud infrastructure, hiring, legal support, accounting, and other critical startup functions. Residents may also receive one-on-one mentoring through “MARU Connect,” a pool of about 70 top industry experts and experienced founders. In addition, MARU provides IR matching programs that connect startups with domestic and global venture capital firms and support fundraising.

MARU also runs a variety of community programs to promote exchange and collaboration among resident teams, including regular town hall meetings, clubs, and workshops. Eligible resident founders may participate in the “Asan Leadership Coaching” program to strengthen resilience as startup leaders, as well as the “MARU Reboot” program, which supports workations to improve productivity.

With the arrival of the 12 new teams, MARU hosted a “Pay It Forward Workshop” in Incheon on October 11–12, bringing resident startup CEOs together for networking and peer exchange.

Sung-woo Cheon, Team Lead of the Startup Team at Asan Nanum Foundation, stated, “Through the MARU residency selection process, we were able to meet many startups who continue to take on bold entrepreneurial challenges across various fields despite difficult conditions. We will actively support resident startups so they can fully pursue their ambitions, grow, and give back through MARU, our entrepreneurship platform.”