[Edaily Marketin Song Seung-Hyeon Reporter] Deep-tech accelerator (AC) Bluepoint Partners is holding a series of sector-specific demo days covering fields such as nuclear energy, quantum technology, and healthcare. Bluepoint, which has been designated as a “Comprehensive Specialized Company for Technology Commercialization” by the Ministry of Science and ICT, is utilizing these demo days as a conduit linking the discovery of public-sector technologies to follow-on investments.

According to the venture capital (VC) industry on the 21st, Bluepoint will host the “5th Nuclear Startup Academy Atomic NEST Demo Day” with the Korea Nuclear Industry Cooperation Foundation (KONICOF) on the 4th of next month at Daejeon Tipstown. Three incorporated startups and three pre-startup teams will take the stage. The established startups are Neurogos (an integrated information management platform for SMR development), S-Welding (PCHE utilizing high-temperature nuclear heat), and Korea Nuclear Maintenance Technology (steam generator tube sleeving for nuclear power plants). The pre-startup teams are Thermicron, INGEOL Propulsion, and RDNX. As the two organizations have been co-hosting the event since the third edition, this year marks the third iteration of the program. The decision to fill half of the presenting teams with groups formed before incorporating their companies is interpreted as an effort to have their ideas validated from an investment perspective starting at the concept stage.

Previously, on the 15th, the “13th Bluepoint Demo Day: Technological Optimism” was held at the Sofitel Ambassador in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Twelve teams that had received investment within the past three years presented in front of approximately 300 industry professionals, including venture capitalists. Teams based on public technology accounted for the majority, including Diden Robotics (a spin-off from KAIST’s HUBO Lab), Lipiyu (which acquired technology from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology), and Oasis Security (founded by former researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology). Observers note that the composition of the presenting teams reflected the fact that this was Bluepoint’s first demo day as a comprehensive technology commercialization firm. More than half of the 12 companies that participated in last year’s demo day secured follow-on investment.

In addition, Bluepoint—well-known as a domestic AC specializing in deep-tech investments—is actively utilizing various demo days. In the quantum field, it operates “Quantum Jump” in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) and Daejeon Technopark as part of the “Quantum Computing Quantum Transition (QX) Scale-up Valley Fostering Project.” In the healthcare sector, Bluepoint partnered with InBody to launch the open innovation program “InBodyLike.” Out of approximately 400 applicant teams, six were selected, with the program offering investment opportunities totaling 11 billion won. Since InBody is also a shareholder that invested 5 billion won in Bluepoint last December, this can be seen as an example of a financial relationship expanding into an incubation program.

In addition, last month, Bluepoint launched the first cohort of “CSprint,” a program recruiting talent to commercialize technologies from universities and government-funded research institutes. Applicants select one technology—from a pool that Bluepoint has already reviewed for intellectual property rights—and spend nine weeks designing a business model with the researcher, then meet with customers to validate market potential. The first cohort focuses on physical AI and sensor technologies centered around KAIST. This aligns with the company’s move last April to establish a Technology Commercialization Center and appoint Jang Eun-young, former CEO of Lighthouse Combine Invest, as its director.

Thanks to these efforts, Bluepoint was selected as a comprehensive technology commercialization specialist firm. This is a program supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Unbound by the technologies of any specific institution, the firm identifies public technologies and comprehensively manages the entire process—from startup incubation to follow-on investment. The structure involves the AC first screening out sectors—such as nuclear and quantum technologies, where verification and licensing take a long time, making them difficult for general VCs to handle in the early stages—and passing them on to the investment market. Founded in 2014, Bluepoint has invested in over 400 companies to date, with assets under management (AUM) totaling approximately 120 billion won.

A venture capital (VC) industry insider explained, “As both ACs and VCs have recently been supporting portfolio companies through various activities beyond just investment, it appears that Bluepoint is also actively utilizing demo days to identify and support deep-tech companies.”