In addition to programs that foster entrepreneurship and spread startup culture, KAIST has supported startup audition programs. Many startup teams were produced in 2020, and ‘2020 KAIST Startup Awards’ was held to select the best startup teams. Due to COVID-19, Startup KAIST could not provide the opportunity to attend CES. However, through the awards Startup KAIST discovered startup teams and plan to foster them as a unicorn company through continuous support.

2020 KAIST Startup Awards was joined by 10 senior entrepreneurs, investors, and related specialists as evaluation committee members. The committee evaluated the 1^st preliminary application round focusing on creativity, specificity, and business feasibility, and selected 11 teams. In the 2^nd presentation round, the committee evaluated teams based on their startup passion, development and business capabilities, business feasibility, and excellence in commercialization plans, and selected 4 final teams.

At the 2020 KAIST Startup Awards, a total of four excellent teams were selected, including 1 Grand Prize, 1 Award of Excellence (2^nd Prize), and 2 Awards of Excellence (3^rd Prize). The Grand Prize winner was ‘Chequer’, a startup developing a data access control and audit trail SQL collaboration solution. 2^nd Prize was given to SelectStar, and 3^rd Prize was given to ‘QuantumCat’ and ‘Dolbomdream’. Congratulations to the final winners and we look forward to the success and future of the teams!