UKIUKI Wins Excellence Award at 2021 Start-Up Boot-Up IR Competition

Originally reported by Reporter Bang Wan-Jae in Kyosu Shinmun (The Professor Newspaper), December 2021. Adapted for international readers.

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SEOUL, South Korea — UKIUKI (operated by ETBE, now UKIUKI Corporation) won the Excellence Award at the 2021 Start-Up Boot-Up IR Competition, a national startup pitch event hosted by the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) and organized by Kyung Hee University, Dongguk University, and the Seoul Creative Economy Innovation Center.

The competition was held on November 30, 2021 at PJ Hotel Vera Hall in Seoul, with 11 teams participating — 7 pre-startup teams and 4 established startups.

About the Competition

The Start-Up Boot-Up IR Competition brought together startups from university incubation centers and government-supported entrepreneurship programs. Each team delivered an investor relations (IR) pitch followed by a Q&A session with judges. Awards were given in three tiers: Grand Prize, Excellence Award, and Merit Award.

Award Results

• Grand Prize: Briex Inc. (CEO Shin Young-Wook) — a platform photography agency service called “Briphy”
• Excellence Award: Hanjihantok Inc. (Kyung Hee University) and Rubit Inc. (Dongguk University)
• Merit Award: ETBE / UKIUKI (CEO Ham Seung-Jin) and Toporab (Dongguk University)

UKIUKI was one of the startups incubated at the Kyung Hee University Startup Incubation Center, competing alongside ventures from both Kyung Hee and Dongguk Universities.

UKIUKI: From University Incubator to Global Pet Brand

The article introduced UKIUKI as a companion animal health food manufacturer established in 2013. The company was described as having conducted intensive research and observation focused exclusively on cats, providing comprehensive life solutions for felines.

Key highlights from the company profile:

• Brand name origin: ETBE comes from Etoile (French for “star”) + Nude (Spanish for “cloud”) — representing a world where nature, people, and cats are happy together
• Products: Freeze-dried treats, carpet scratchers, cat towels, cat glasses, and decorative stickers — all made from human-grade ingredients
• Global sales: Active on Amazon and Alibaba at the time of the competition
• Development approach: Products developed in collaboration with veterinarians

University-Backed Startup Ecosystem

Kim Bong-Seok, Director of the Kyung Hee University Startup Incubation Center, commented on the event’s significance. He emphasized that university-based startups differ from conventional startups, and that the incubation center would continue to strengthen its support systems to help both the university and its portfolio companies grow together.

“We dream of companies that start small within a university but eventually grow to represent Korea on the global stage,” Kim said.

For UKIUKI, this recognition validated years of product development and market expansion — from a university incubator to Amazon US, international exhibitions, and a national KBS documentary feature.

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