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(Photo 1) Joseph Ji, CEO of HEM Pharma, 2022 Preliminary Unicorn Company, Innobiz
On September 28th, HEM Pharma Co., Ltd. (CEO Joseph Ji, hereinafter referred to as HEM Pharma), a resident company of Techno Business Incubator of Handong Global University (President Do Soung Choi), was selected as Innobiz, a technologically innovative and small and medium-sized certified company, by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
HEM Pharma moved into the Techno Business Incubator of Handong Global University in January 2017 and participated in various incubation programs, and it is a microbiome specialized company that provides solutions for intestinal microbiome and intestinal environment analysis, microbiome production, and personalized intestinal environment improvement services so far (in the field of Bio).
HEM Pharma is developing customized health functional foods, including ‘myLab by Nutrilite’, which was launched in May in collaboration with Amway Korea and is recognized for its future potential, such as being selected for the Startup Leap Package Project by Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Promotion in 2020, winning the grand prize for the ‘Korea’s Best Patent in 2021, and being selected as a preliminary unicorn by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2022.
In this certification, the company acquired the final A grade of Innobiz in four categories: technological innovation, technological commercialization, technological innovation management, and technological innovation performance with personalized health functional food and service improvement technology using its own patented technology, PMAS (Pharmaceutical Meta-Analytic Screening). An official of HEM Pharma said, “The support fund secured through the selection of ‘Innobiz’ and preliminary unicorn will be used as research and development and operation to expand the business area to new drug development and customized healthcare solutions based on the mid to long-term business goals.”
Innovation-type SME certification system ‘Innobiz’ is a combination of innovation and business and refers to companies that are likely to have a competitive advantage based on excellent technology, and has been implementing the Innobiz designation system in Korea since 2001. Companies that have received Innobiz certification can receive additional points, financial and tax benefits when applying for various government R&D projects, along with enhancing public confidence in their technology and capabilities.
