Sustainability > Sustainable Management > Sangsang Planet

SangSang Planet

A place where youth entrepreneurs learn, meet, and create impact together to change the world for the better

SangSang Planet is a youth startup support space that opened in July 2020. KT&G is promoting various youth startup support projects for the growth of the future generation. KT&G has been helping the youth, who imagine a better future, start their own businesses. Our efforts began with the sponsorship of the Asia University Student Start-up Exchange in 2004, which was followed by the launching of K&G SangSang Start-up Camp in 2017, a program designed to discover and foster social innovators who address societal issues through entrepreneurial endeavors.

SangSang Planet stands as an incubating platform conceived by KT&G, providing young entrepreneurs with a stepping stone to scale-up their business, on the back of KT&G’s extensive understanding and experience in fostering youth startup. Going forward, we will provide multifaceted support for youth startup, and SangSang Planet will serve as the base camp for our efforts to support their challenge.

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KT&G Youth Startup Support History

2004~2009

INCUBATION

In 2004, KT&G started to sponsor Asia University Student Start-up Exchange, which is the largest of its kind in Asia and the only one in Korea, with the goal to provide opportunities to young talents and encourage their dreams of opening a brighter future
2010~2015

GROWTH

In 2010, KT&G expanded the youth startup assistance based on social contribution platform. We provided opportunities for the underprivileged to dream their dream and aim high via SangSang Fund, raised by KT&G employees. We also launched various programs through SangSang Univ. to help employment for future generations and strengthen their skills and competency for starting up a business.
2016~2019

EXPANSION

From 2016, we started to give a deeper thought into the various sponsorships that we provided in relation to startups. In 2017, KT&G launched the KT&G SangSang Start-up Camp as part of the initiative to identify and cultivate social innovators who solve social issues through business. In 2019, we sponsored “Coffee Lab” to nurture experts in coffee industry, which is one of the main industries in Indonesia, thereby contribute to job creation.
2020~

MATURITY

In 2020, KT&G opened KT&G SangSang Planet, which is youth startup support center, for a higher leap forward. We look forward SangSang Planet taking entrepreneurs’ dreams and passion to the next level by promoting ecosystem around youth start-up and serving as the groundwork for the company’s youth start-up assistance programs.

Space of SangSang Planet

KT&G SangSang Planet serves as a collaborative workspace exclusively designed to nurture the development and interactions of social ventures at their early stage. Located in Seongdonggu, Seoul, a region often referred to as the Social Venture Valley, SangSang Planet provides a conducive environment for fostering innovative growth. The facility spans across 8 aboveground floors and 1 underground floor, with a total floor area of approximately 4,000 square meters. The office space accommodates a total of 256 seats, providing a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to work. There are also meeting rooms and lounges on each floor, and various common spaces such as sleeping rooms and shower rooms are also available for user convenience. In addition to these comfortable and convenient workspaces for youth entrepreneurs, KT&G helps them exchange, communicate, and grow their dreams by running competency support programs such as education and mentoring as well as communication support programs such as busking and small groups on a regular basis.

SangSang Planet Programs

KT&G provides various benefits for the growth of startups, such as capacity building programs and exchange opportunities, in addition to the office space. Moreover, we seek to discover and nurture social ventures and facilitate the social innovation ecosystem by operating youth startup programs such as KT&G SangSang Start-up Camp and Sangsang Summit, together with the programs that support the growth of tenants of SangSang Planet and promote exchanges among them, such as Planet Campus, Planet Talk, and Connect Planet.

SangSang Planet Main Programs

Growth Support (Scale-up) Program

Planet Campus

Planet Campus is a regular education/coaching program aimed at reinforcing working-level capabilities of Planet members. Rookie entrepreneurs are given a chance to learn finance/marketing/HR/labor/legal and others that are needed for running a business. Monthly mentor-mentee matching and 1:1 coaching are also available for them.
Planet Day

As a celebration of the opening day of KT&G SangSang Planet on July 15, various events are held, including a time for tenants to share their experiences in KT&G’s youth startup support space and a farewell party for companies leaving that month. In addition, tenants are given the opportunity to sell their products to local residents and visitors in Seongsu-dong through the “Planet Market,” a platform for product sales and customer validation.
Planet Pop-up

Tenants of the Planet can take advantage of the Planet Pop-up zone on the first floor to promote their products and services. KT&G supports fixed budget to applying teams who can promote themselves to customers visiting SangSang Planet and turn it into an opportunity for growth.
Planet Awards

This is an ESG management support program for tenants of the Planet, through which we select outstanding companies in ESG by reviewing their interest in ESG management, social impact, business performance of the previous year, and future plans, providing them with a foundation for continuous growth.

Play & Network Program

Play Planet

Play Planet is a busking program to comfort the hearts and minds of exhausted Planet members and professionals in the neighborhood. Performances by artists of different genres on the first floor of SangSang Planet offer the local community a great opportunity to enjoy culture and art.
Connect Planet

Connect Planet is a networking program that enables tenants of the Planet to communicate and share information. Connect Planet gives an opportunity for individuals with common interests to form a community
Planet Talk

Planet Talk is a talk concert program that enables participants to listen to the various experiences of senior entrepreneurs. Participants can share information necessary for growth based on the topics of areas needed for newly established social ventures, such as ESG, brand, HR, corporate culture, and marketing.

Youth Start-up Program

Korea’s first-ever fulltime social innovation startup launching program aimed at supporting youth exploring to solve social issues through business.
SangSang Summit is a forum for social innovation entrepreneurship held every year. Using this conference program, experts and those who are interested in innovation gather and talk about the future by discovering key elements that can achieve innovation.

KT&G SangSang Start-up Camp

Launched in 2017, KT&G SangSang Start-Up Camp is an accelerating program that supports the growth and re-launch of social innovation startups. It operates the “Start” program for companies less than three years old and the “Growth & Global” program for companies aiming for growth and global expansion between three to ten years old. We select participating companies annually and support their continuous growth through tailored programs that provide practical help such as entrepreneurship coaching, expert mentoring, and pitch days. In 2023, we successfully completed the 7th class of SangSang Startup Camp and selected the 8th class, currently running in 2024. Starting from the 8th class, we have refined the program into the Start Track (early stage), Growth Track (growth), and Global Track (global expansion) to support various types of companies.

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SangSang Summit

KT&G hosts SangSang Summit, an expert forum on social innovation, every year with the goal of drawing public attention and engagement to social venture ecosystem. The 6th SangSang Summit, held in 2023 under the theme “Imagining the Future of Social Innovation,” took place offline at the KT&G SangSang Planet Connect Hall, and experts from various fields, including academia, institutions, ecosystems, and entrepreneurs, participated as speakers to discuss the future landscape of social innovation and the mindset that entrepreneurs should embody. Additionally, through keynote speeches and discussions on topics related to AI, global impact trends, environment, and climate, participants shared insights and predicted changes in social innovation. Furthermore, the “Planet Awards” event was held to select and support companies with outstanding ESG activities among tenants of KT&G SangSang Planet. This initiative aims to establish a foundation for a sustainable management environment for startups, in line with the investment trend shifting towards ESG-related resources.

Achievements of SangSang Start-up Camp

Number of teams

144 teams
Number of participants

415 persons
Cumulative sales revenue

KRW 42.2 billion

* Based on cumulative performance from the 1st to 7th classes

Achievements of SangSang Summit Operation in 2023

Number of offline participants

About 150 persons
Cumulative number of participants

About 2,050 persons