UNIST Student Venture Selected for Prestigious Tech Incubator Program for Startup!

UNIST has announced that its student-led venture company, Pireco has been selected for TIPS, the accelerator investment-driven tech incubator program for startups, and will receive KRW 500 million in funding from the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS).

Founded by a group of UNIST students in September 2018, Pireco has been working on developing a robust biometric identification system for identifying individual pet animals based on iris and nose pattern recognition. Besides, its multi-biometric authentication technology has recently been selected as an international standard by the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), aiming for a final approval in 2023.

Pireco has been working on developing a robust biometric identification system for identifying individual pet animals based on iris and nose pattern recognition. l Image Credit: Pireco

In June, they have launched a biometric-based medical experience-sharing mobile app for pets, namely PeterPet. This application provides an environment for pet owners to share veterinary medical experiences and connect with others in a way that increases experiential knowledge. Through a simple registration process, users can easily obtain useful information and tips.

Through the expansion of mobile app usage, the company hopes to demonstarte the usefulness of multi-biometric authentication method, thereby replacing the plastic pet microchips that have been registered in the international registry in the near future.

Furthermore, Pireco has been recognized for its high-level business capabilities in various fields. It has secured seed capital from Mirae Holdings Ltd., and has been also selected as the 4th company for the IBK Changgong (Start-up Factory) at its Guro branch.

Meanwhile, TIPS is a technology startup support program, initiated by the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) to promote private investments on startups. TIPS offers startups with business incubation spaces through consortiums with universities and research institutes. The primary purpose of this program is to promote and support talent related to technological innovation where the startup could not grow their business due to a lack of funding or a fear of failure.