New Paradigm Investment, a startup scale-up accelerator (AC), said on the 22nd that it successfully held the 2026 New Paradigm Newnicorn Day.
The event was held on the 21st at Startup Branch in COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It was organized to introduce nine promising startups newly invested in by New Paradigm and to secure growth drivers for the startup ecosystem by expanding networks with venture capital (VC).
Yu Ho-hyeon, head of OXOPolitics and author of "War of the AI gods" and "The best companies built by selfish employees," gave a presentation on the theme "Disruptive innovation strategies for startups in the AI era." The talk stressed the growth direction of startups responding to changes in the global market and the importance of integrating AI technology.
In the new investment corporations session, Bomchan (CEO Park Ji-heum), NOBLOGIS (CEO Jeong Woo-jae), FirstJang Company (CEO Jang Won-bong), DWIX (CEO Ahn Jun-hyeong), UnitLab (CEO Ha Seong-min), CuraPulse (CEO Cho Nam-gyu), Refundy (CEO Park Shin-uk), VLab Corporation (CEO Eom Ju-hyeon), and Agigom Company (CEO Kang Sin-hyeon) were introduced as next-generation startups.
NextPayments (CEO Ji Gwang-cheol), PetFarm (CEO Yoon Seong-han), and Back's Dime (CEO Kim Seong-jae), which expanded in scale on the back of strong results last year, shared their selection process for support programs and early growth strategies. Senior corporations leaders such as Kang Seong-jin of Covering, Kwon Gu-seong of LEESOL, and Son Su-yeong of ASWEMAKE revealed their fundraising strategies and collaboration experiences.
An "open collab meeting" was also held for ACs, VCs, and startup officials to mingle freely. Discussions were held on practical business partnerships and securing follow-on investments.
New Paradigm is currently recruiting new startups to join its "Baby Unicorn Growth Program." Eligible applicants are promising startups across deep tech, including ICT (information and communications technology), silver tech, healthcare, and smart robots. Selected corporations will receive growth funding support of up to 5 billion won. Applications are open until May 2 on the official New Paradigm Investment website.
Bae Sang-seung, co-CEO of New Paradigm, said, "This year's Newnicorn Day reaffirmed the disruptive innovation capabilities and growth potential of AI-based startups," adding, "We will support the birth of future unicorn corporations that represent Korea through New Paradigm's powerful ecosystem."