NIPA Hosts Startup Competition “Extreme Tech Challenge Korea 2026”
IT DAILY ·
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The National IT Industry Promotion Agency held “Extreme Tech Challenge Korea (XTC Korea) 2026” together with XTC and the Global Digital Innovation Network and announced the results on the 19th.
Eight startups, including Crosshub, ECubeLab, Spacemap, Lilycover, Omelet, Codefresso, StudioLab, and Jejedu, presented at the competition, and Omelet took first place.
Omelet also received XTC's “Excellence in Applied AI Award” and was invited to “XTC AI:360,” which will be held in the United States on November 19.
The National IT Industry Promotion Agency announced on the 19th that it had held the online competition “Extreme Tech Challenge Korea (XTC Korea) 2026” together with XTC and the Global Digital Innovation Network.
XTC is a California-born nonprofit startup partnership organization. It connects innovative entrepreneurs, large companies, investors, and governments to help solve global challenges and accelerate worldwide expansion.
Each year, XTC recommends and selects outstanding innovative startups through partnerships with public institutions and international organizations around the world, with Sweden, India, Austria, and Japan cited as examples of partner countries. Through this, it supports their entry into the global market, and this domestic event in particular focused on helping outstanding local AI startups expand into overseas markets and attract investment.
The event was organized to contribute to achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to identify and foster innovative companies that create practical commercial value as well as environmental and social impact. An image caption indicated “Extreme Tech Challenge Korea 2026 'Omelet' Award,” with the source credited to NIPA.
In the competition, 8 startups — Crosshub, ECubeLab, Spacemap, Lilycover, Omelet, Codefresso, StudioLab, and Jejedu — gave presentations before an international panel of judges. The companies explained their capabilities with a focus on technological strength and global scalability.
As a result of the judging, Omelet took first place overall. Omelet also received XTC's Excellence in Applied AI Award.
Omelet is a company that uses optimization AI to solve operational decision-making in industrial settings. Based on more than 10 years of optimization AI research at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, it provides AI services that search for optimal solutions to complex corporate operational decisions, with applications including vehicle routing, ship loading, inventory allocation, and nurse scheduling.
Following this award, Omelet has been invited to “XTC AI:360,” the main XTC event, which will be held on November 19 in the United States. At the event, Omelet will showcase its innovative technology on the global stage.
Kim Hyo-geun, head of the agency's Global Headquarters, said that the first collaboration between the agency and XTC and the Global Digital Innovation Network highlighted the technological capabilities of domestic startups related to the SDGs and made clear to the global market the potential for their international commercialization. Based on this, NIPA said it would continue to strengthen ties with international partner organizations and provide multifaceted support for promising domestic startups to advance onto the global stage.
The agency revamped training in July to strengthen capabilities in public software project procurement. The revision was designed to enhance AI response capabilities in public software project procurement settings, and the training was shifted toward a “practical response to AI and new technologies” model.
Source: IT DAILY · Kwon Young-seok
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=241085
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Source: IT DAILY
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