National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) said on the 26th that it held "XTC Korea 2026" online on the 12th with Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) and the Global Digital Innovation Network.
The competition was prepared to support overseas expansion and investment attraction for domestic artificial intelligence (AI) startups and to discover innovative corporations that will contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Eight startups, including Crosshub, Ecube Labs, Space Map, Reillycover, Omelet, Codepresso, Studio Lab and Zezeedu, participated in the contest. They presented their technological competitiveness and potential for entry into global markets to an international panel of judges.
The top overall award and the "applied AI excellence award" went to Omelet, which helps operational decision-making at industrial worksites. Based on optimization AI technology researched for more than 10 years at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Omelet proposes optimal solutions for vehicle routing, ship loading, inventory allocation and nurse scheduling.
NIPA will also support Omelet's overseas expansion. Omelet is set to participate in "XTC AI:360" in the United States on Nov. 19, where it will showcase its technology to global corporations and investors and policy officials, including Samsung and IBM.