[INTERVIEW] 'Shinhan Future's Lab to be global accelerator'

Cho Young-suh, chief digital officer of Shinhan Financial Group

Financial group helps Korean startups go abroad

By Park Jae-hyuk

Shinhan Financial Group is working to ensure its Future's Lab startup nurturing program grows into a global accelerator supporting the founders and employees of new enterprises who have also engaged in the group's "people-oriented" digital transformation, its chief digital officer (CDO) said Friday.

Cho Young-suh, who joined the group in 2017 after serving as a partner in Bain & Company, told The Korea Times that his company will help Korean startups venture overseas, so as to achieve growth of both the startups and Shinhan.

"Affiliations with companies owning original technologies is essential, because the financial industry's business model is changing," said the executive who is in charge of the group's digitization. "Financial firms have begun focusing more on customer experience and offering various products and services, following the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

Under this belief, Future's Lab has discovered 43 business models and invested 11 billion won ($9.1 million) in 25 companies over the past five years.

The nation's first startup accelerator will invest an additional 25 billion won over the next five years in 250 companies that deal with fintech, lifestyle and social platforms.

According to Shinhan, the startups will collaborate with the group's subsidiaries, such as Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Card, so as to get support for their growth.

"Based on our experience of attempting a variety of collaborations with fintech firms, we will cooperate with promising startups related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, social enterprises and social platforms," Cho said.

Over the past few years, Shinhan has fostered a number of promising startups through the Future's Lab.

Business models of the startups include blockchain, big data analysis, peer-to-peer lending, recommendations of financial products, a robo-adviser service and startup recruitment.

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, second from left, talks with a startup worker during Shinhan Future's Lab Startup Job Fair at Shinhan L Tower in Seoul in this July 12 file photo. Third from left is Shinhan Financial Group CDO Cho Young-suh. / Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group

The CDO, however, was not satisfied with success in the domestic market.

He said overseas expansion is necessary for Korean startups to grow into "unicorns," which refer to startup companies valued at over $1 billion.

"Given that the populations of Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia have reached 97 million, 104 million and 260 million, respectively, Southeast Asia is a huge market," he said. "Korean startups should also enter Silicon Valley in the United States and London, England, the birthplaces of advanced digital technologies with excellent investment networks."

In 2016, Shinhan opened Future's Lab Vietnam, which has already become one of the most popular startup-nurturing programs in the country.

According to the CDO, his company selected eight startups among 141 applicants which had sought to enter the Vietnamese market through the Future's Lab.

As it experienced success in Vietnam, the banking group will start running the program in Indonesia, Sept. 9.

Cho, who has frequently visited the country over the past few weeks for the project, said the country's conditions are good enough for startups to grow.

"Among eight unicorns in Southeast Asia, four run their businesses in Indonesia," he said. "Through our partnership with local fintech companies, we will help Korean startups enter the Indonesian market, as well as nurturing Indonesian startups."

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