Dong-A University's Startup Support Team announced on August 20 that it participated in the '4th B.BRIDGING DAY 2026,' held at the Westin Chosun Busan from August 13 to 14, to expand investment attraction and business collaboration opportunities for local startups.
B.BRIDGING DAY is an event designed to connect promising startups from the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions with large and medium-sized enterprises and investors for investment reviews and open innovation collaborations.
The event was co-hosted by 23 startup incubation and support organizations from the region, with Dong-A University also serving as a co-host.
According to the organizers, approximately 120 startups from the region, along with over 20 large and medium-sized enterprises and more than 30 investors, participated in this year's event.
As part of its own accelerating program, 'DU-ni StartupDIVE,' Dong-A University connected three companies selected in the 2026 Initial Startup Package—'DS Construction Safety,' 'Abridge,' and 'Adiz'—with investors from the metropolitan area and the region.
A representative from Dong-A University's Startup Support Team stated, "Three out of the 19 companies selected for this year's Initial Startup Package participated. We reviewed applications submitted by the companies and recommended them for participation."
They clarified that no specific quantitative evaluation criteria were applied, and priority was given to companies already engaged in investment-related programs, ensuring they were at a stage where the IR stage would be genuinely beneficial.
On the first day, August 13, sector-specific IR demo days were held, allowing participating startups to present their business models, technologies, and growth strategies to venture capitalists and accelerator evaluators.
Subsequent information-sharing sessions discussed joint and follow-up investment linkage strategies between regional and metropolitan investors.
On the second day, August 14, one-on-one investment meetups and open innovation meetups were conducted between startups and investors. These sessions were organized based on prior matching, considering the industry sectors, growth stages, and desired investment amounts of the participating companies, focusing on discussions about technology validation (PoC) and market entry possibilities.
However, the actual success of investment attraction or follow-up meetings resulting from the event has not yet been confirmed.
Dong-A University's Startup Support Team plans to use this event as a stepping stone to continue providing investment mentoring and its own IR demo days for participating companies.
Lee Hak-seong, head of Dong-A University's Startup Support Team, stated, "The startups identified by Dong-A University were able to meet directly with investors and partners, broadening their business collaboration horizons. We will continue to support the development of the regional startup ecosystem and help early-stage entrepreneurs establish themselves in the market."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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