Hana Financial Group supports young entrepreneurs

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, fifth from left in the third row, poses with participants of the group's support program for young entrepreneurs at the group headquarters in downtown Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group

Hana Financial Group held a session sharing the outcome of Hana Social Venture University, the group’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management program aimed at establishing a youth startup ecosystem and creating jobs.

Hana Social Venture University is the group’s major social value creation program jointly operated with local universities, as hubs to nurture young entrepreneurs and maintain regional populations through sustainable job creation for young people. It was selected as a youth-friendly corporate ESG support project by the Ministry of Employment and Labor for two consecutive years, which recognized its contribution to job creation.

“I hope that the program will play a pivotal role in enabling young people with passion and goals in the region to find jobs where they desire,” Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo said at the outcome-sharing session held at the group headquarters in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, Monday.

“We will continue providing support tailored for entrepreneurship in the region, to create surroundings where both the local community and young people can grow together,” he added.

A total of 650 teams comprising 1,500 members from 30 regional hub universities were selected for the program this year, establishing an ecosystem for aspiring entrepreneurs' creation of local jobs.

They were provided offline basic entrepreneurship education sessions to help them solidify their pre- and early-stage startup ideas. After the basic entrepreneurship education sessions, 60 teams were selected based on criteria such as completeness of the business model, business strategy and influence.

The selected teams were provided more practical education, including coaching for business enhancement and business plan development, concrete formulation of region-based business models, and one-on-one matching with entrepreneurs who have already launched startups.

The group also supported each of the 60 teams with 3 million won in funding.

At the outcome-sharing session, a team of young people whose startup idea was an application to aid visually impaired individuals when walking received the grand prize.