INNOCEAN and SBVA Join Forces for ‘UP 2026’ Programme

​INNOCEAN, led by global CEO Jung A Kim, has partnered with SBVA, formerly SoftBank Ventures Asia, to bring together more than 10 promising innovative companies for ‘UP 2026,’ a growth-focused programme designed to explore business challenges, expansion opportunities, and potential collaboration.

Through ‘UP 2026,’ INNOCEAN and SBVA aimed to support innovative companies in identifying their next stage of growth, while exploring new opportunities for business collaboration beyond INNOCEAN’s existing scope and laying the groundwork for future partnerships.

The programme was particularly meaningful as it provided an opportunity for INNOCEAN to go beyond the role of a marketing agency and work with innovative companies to share growth challenges and explore pathways for business expansion. By connecting the growth potential of participating companies with its own capabilities in creativity, data, AI, and customer experience, INNOCEAN discussed ways to develop collaboration models and broadly reviewed opportunities for strategic partnerships and business cooperation.

The programme focused on key challenges faced by more than 10 innovative companies, including Blind and KREAM, such as market expansion, AI and data utilisation, brand growth, and new revenue models. Beyond simple branding or marketing support, it examined each company’s business model and growth bottlenecks and focused on identifying practical areas for collaboration.

Participating companies were SBVA portfolio companies, including Blind, KREAM, Ohouse, Queenit, Laundrygo, Rael, GravityLabs, among others.

SBVA, formerly SoftBank Ventures, changed its name in 2024. As a venture capital firm that was previously affiliated with SoftBank Group, SBVA continues to pursue global investment activities, having invested in more than 100 startups around the world across diverse fields including AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and smart robotics.

The programme consisted of four sessions centred on key growth agendas that innovative companies should pay attention to amid a changing market environment.

The opening session provided an opportunity for INNOCEAN and SBVA to share the purpose of their collaboration with promising innovative companies and the direction of future partnerships.

The main session examined market changes in the age of AI and the transformation of communication methods, while discussing new business opportunities that companies should capture in an environment where both people and AI influence brand choices. The session also explored how brands can move people and translate engagement into business results amid changing customer touchpoints, including platforms, creators, search environments, and diversified channels. In addition, it looked into directions for AI- and data-driven business expansion, as well as INNOCEAN’s growth models and related solutions that can be applied to each company’s business model.

Key leaders and executives from INNOCEAN’s core organisations, including the BX (Business Experience) Division, Strategic Solutions Division, Global Business Division, DX (Digital Experience) Division, and CX (Customer Experience) Division, took part in the programme to discuss participating companies’ business direction, expansion potential, and strategic collaboration opportunities.

In the latter part of the programme, one-on-one in-depth meetings were held. These meetings took a closer look at the business status and key challenges of participating portfolio companies, and discussed opportunities for business model advancement, market expansion, and business collaboration in greater detail. INNOCEAN plans to continue follow-up discussions as needed to build a sustainable collaboration structure.

The final session was a networking dinner that brought together INNOCEAN, SBVA, executives and employees of participating innovative companies, key investors, and industry stakeholders. Through open networking, participants deepened mutual understanding and built relationships that could naturally lead to future partnerships and collaboration discussions.

Jung A Kim, global CEO of INNOCEAN, said, “‘Up 2026’ marked a starting point for INNOCEAN to expand strategic collaboration with innovative companies and explore new growth opportunities beyond the traditional scope of an advertising agency. Through our partnership with SBVA, we hope each participating company will identify practical pathways for business expansion and create tangible results in the process.”

Joonpyo Lee, CEO of SBVA, said, “We are pleased to have created this opportunity to support the growth of SBVA portfolio companies together with INNOCEAN, a company leading innovation in brand experience. We hope this programme provided practical insights for companies seeking to enhance brand value and develop global growth strategies, while also serving as a meaningful opportunity to explore new collaboration.”