A look at the winners of Google’s Global K-Startup Competition 2012

The winners for the Global K-Startup Competition, which aims to help Korean startups go global, were announced in December.  From an initial application of 250 teams, 30 were selected and are now in the midst of building their businesses. Earlier in October, 5 teams left for London and Silicon Valley to network with VCs and startups.

1st Prize Winner

KnowRe

In a nutshell: KnowRe develops adaptive learning applications for the web, tablets, and mobile devices. It believes that technology can improve the educational experience of every student by providing assessments of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses; personalized adaptive curriculum, and gamification and social features to motivate user experience.

2nd Prize Winners

MeditPLUS

In a nutshell: The “iClinic” series by MeditPLUS provides patients with access to information about illnesses and surgeries via mobile machines and phones, and can be synchronized with websites. By using the “iClinic” series, patients will be given treatment online, whenever and wherever they need it. This also enables medical staff to foster reliable relationships, give good advice, and even advertise their medical services.

Frograms

In a nutshell: Watcha is a personalized and automated recommendation system for movies by Frograms’ algorithm. Users join Watcha and rate 10 movies to receive personalized recommendations for movies and other content categories like TV shows and books. Watcha currently provides only web service, but will launch an App (with streaming feature) in December 2012.

3rd Prize Winners

Malang Studio

In a nutshell: Malang Studio’s Alarm Mon aims to change the way users associate alarms, replacing unpleasant, loud and annoying sounds with more amusement and fun. Alarm Mon is an alarm app with gamification features, allowing users to select and “raise” their favourite alarm characters into full-grown creatures — similar to the Tamagotchi digital pet — or receive discounts and coupons offered by brands and marketers.