From campus clubs to multimillion-won startups: Universities fund a new wave of innovators
Published: 26 Nov. 2025, 15:33
Updated: 26 Nov. 2025, 18:06
![Hanyang University Erica Campus' in-campus startup iLLisoft CEO Ahn Ho-jun introduces a sports device designed to assist visually impaired people on the university's campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 18. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/26/f3fbf4e4-53b4-4eb0-bc75-e75c380fd201.jpg)
Hanyang University Erica Campus' in-campus startup iLLisoft CEO Ahn Ho-jun introduces a sports device designed to assist visually impaired people on the university's campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 18. [JOONGANG ILBO]
Ahn Ho-jun, CEO of iLLisoft, founded his company in 2020 while he was a junior in Hanyang University Erica Campus’ Division of Media, Culture and Design Technology. Now, iLLisoft generates an average annual revenue of 400 to 500 million won ($274,000 to $342,000).
According to Ahn, he first saw the potential to apply extended reality technologies, like the metaverse, to educational content while doing software-related volunteer work at the university and decided to commercialize it. The key to his success was lowering educational costs by utilizing virtual spaces during the university’s coding education and vocational training sessions, instead of using expensive equipment.
The systematic support from the university was a tremendous help to Ahn's startup, which began as an on-campus club. He received a total of over 83 million won in support from the school, including scholarships for startups and grants for startup clubs. He was provided with space for his business and coaching from a dedicated manager.
Kim Seo-hyeon, CEO of Singularity and a graduate of the same university, received significant support from her alma mater for her startup as well. She received a total of approximately 29 million won in support from the school to develop AI for university student exam preparation, generating a monthly profit of 150 million won.
Hanyang University's Erica Campus ranked first among 53 universities nationwide for the amount of startup support relative to the number of students, and eighth for the number of startup companies in this year’s The JoongAng University Rankings, released on Wednesday.
![Ahn Ho-jun, CEO of iLLisoft, demonstrates the company’s next business item, an assistive sports device for people with visual impairments, with participants at Hanyang University Erica Tech Show, an industry academia cooperation and research exhibition held on Nov. 12 and 13 at the Hanyang University Erica campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi. [ILLISOFT]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/26/ab87c1b6-cb6b-49ce-9dbc-105af80a724d.jpg)
Ahn Ho-jun, CEO of iLLisoft, demonstrates the company’s next business item, an assistive sports device for people with visual impairments, with participants at Hanyang University Erica Tech Show, an industry academia cooperation and research exhibition held on Nov. 12 and 13 at the Hanyang University Erica campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi. [ILLISOFT]
The university provided approximately 27.5 billion won in support from 2022 to 2024, resulting in the birth of 85 companies during the same period. In the student output indicator, universities that leveraged their unique strengths based on detailed student support policies were highlighted. In the startup field, a virtuous cycle was observed — startup support led to the development of promising items and subsequent revenue.
Incheon National University supported student startups with a total of 17.6 billion won, producing 223 startups. The number of startup-related courses increased to 56, a 16.7 percent increase from the previous year, and the number of students who completed them increased by 13.8 percent during the same period, broadening the base for startups.
Seoul National University of Science and Technology, which ranked sixth among the evaluated universities with 17.8 billion won in startup support, produced 23 teams and achieved ninth place in the Promising Student Start-up Team 300+ competition, the largest domestic startup competition hosted annually by the government.
Universities that boosted employment results through systematic support also stood out.
Sogang University analyzes two years of graduate employment data by detailed major for humanities students, identifying the companies, job roles and further education status of their alumni, and uses this as a basis for career lectures. Additionally, by utilizing KakaoTalk’s open chat, hundreds of alumni answer real-time questions from students regarding career paths and employment.
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Sogang University ranked third in the employment rate metric at 70.8 percent, following Konyang University and Sungkyunkwan University, and recorded the highest employment retention rate at 90.9 percent. Unlike other universities, the employment rates for humanities majors are also high: Chinese culture studies at 79.1 percent, European culture studies at 86.2 percent and Korean Language and Literature at 73.8 percent.
Kyung Hee University was found to be the most active university in credit exchange with foreign universities.
Last year, a total of 7,925 students, including undergraduate and graduate students, went on credit exchanges. For international students who wish to improve their Korean proficiency, the university provides beginner, intermediate and advanced Korean language courses and Korean studies education. It also operates the Global Buddy Program, matching international students with Korean students to help with school and overall life in Korea.
The university also provides a multi-language counseling program in languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese and English, discussing issues such as conflicts with roommates or communication problems with professors. Kyung Hee University has the third-lowest dropout rate of international students between 2022 and 2024 at 4.3 percent, following Sungkyunkwan University and Yonsei University.
Evaluation criteria
Now in its 33rd year, The JoongAng University Rankings has refined its indicators based on its expertise as Korea's comprehensive university evaluation framework.
This year, the rankings expanded the scope of the alumni impact on society metric, part of the student output indicator, using the JoongAng Ilbo's biographical database.
Unlike The JoongAng University Rankings by Subject released on Tuesday, the comprehensive ranking examines university reputation through a survey of 2,400 corporate hiring managers, high school teachers who handle admissions, parents and high school students. This year’s survey added questions on universities' social contributions and the potential for future contributions, aiming to evaluate universities’ societal responsibilities and long-term impact.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE HOO-YEON,HEO JEONG-WON AND OH SAM-GWON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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