INNOCEAN said on the 15th it will team up with SBVA (formerly SoftBank Ventures) to run UP 2026, a collaborative platform that supports the growth of innovative companies.
UP 2026 is a program that goes beyond simple marketing support to focus on advancing business models and finding new growth drivers, and INNOCEAN expects to secure future business opportunities through it while participating corporations are expected to seek practical growth strategies.
What sets UP 2026 apart is that INNOCEAN will not remain in the role of a traditional marketing agency but join as a strategic partner that tackles corporations' growth challenges together. INNOCEAN plans to concretize a cooperation model by linking participating corporations' growth potential with its own capabilities in creative, data, AI, and customer experience, and to broadly review possibilities for future strategic partnerships and business cooperation.
The program centers on core challenges facing innovative companies, including market expansion, use of AI and data, brand growth strategy, and discovery of new revenue models. Beyond simple brand marketing support, it focuses on jointly reviewing each corporation's business model and growth bottlenecks and deriving practical collaboration tasks.
Participating corporations consist mainly of key portfolio companies backed by SBVA. About 10 corporations are taking part, including the office worker social platform "Blind," the limited-edition trading platform "KREAM," the lifestyle platform "Ohouse," the lifestyle platform for people in their 40s and 50s "Queenit," the mobile laundry service "Laundrygo," the global women's wellness brand "Rael," and the AI-based healthcare platform "Gravity Labs."
Kim Jeong-a, head of INNOCEAN, said, "By working with SBVA, each corporation will find a practical path to business expansion, and we expect concrete results to be created in the process."
SBVA head Lee Jun-pyo noted, "We hope this program will provide practical insights to corporations considering brand value enhancement and global growth strategies and serve as an opportunity to explore new cooperation."