WIM Advances to the Finals of 'NVIDIA Inception Grand Challenge 2026' as First Gyeongbuk Startup to Reach the Finals

Advanced to the finals past 10,000+ startups from five APAC countries — first and only Daegu-Gyeongbuk company to do so

Achieved by founders and executives from Kyungpook National University, built together with regional talent from KAIST, DGIST, and beyond

Reached the finals with the smallest funding raised among competing companies — "the regional startup poised to lead the Physical AI era"

AI robotics startup WIM Inc. (CEO Woojin Jeon) announced on the 28th that it has been selected as a finalist for the Asia-Pacific region in the global AI startup program 'NVIDIA Inception Grand Challenge 2026.' WIM is the first company from the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region to reach the finals of this competition.

WIM secured its spot in the finals after competing against 14 teams and passing the judging panel's evaluation at the Korea semifinal held on August 27. The challenge drew more than 10,000 startups from five APAC countries — Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand — narrowed through a first cut (Top 150) and a second cut (Top 80) to the semifinal stage of Top 40, from which WIM advanced to the final round. Notably, WIM reached the finals with the smallest amount of funding raised among the competing companies, a result seen as proof that its technology stands on its own merits.

NVIDIA Inception is a free global support program for AI startups. Without requiring fees or equity, it offers the latest SDKs and development tools, technical training through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI), preferential hardware and software benefits, and connections to a global venture capital network, tailored to a startup's growth stage from prototype to commercialization. The Inception Grand Challenge is the program's flagship APAC competition, designed to help growth-stage AI startups solve real industrial problems and drive enterprise adoption and business expansion — meaning that reaching the finals itself validates the technology's real-world industrial applicability on an international stage.

At the Korea semifinal, WIM presented its case to the judging panel with W-RC (WIM Robot Controller), a hardware controller that processes AI inference, real-time robot control, and industrial communication together on a single SoC (NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin), together with PLEM, the integrated robot control platform that runs on top of it. W-RC is designed so that swapping only the task module on the same hardware platform allows it to be redeployed across a wide range of industrial sites, sharply cutting the cost and time of adopting a robot control system. As a core foundational technology for the era of 'Physical AI' — where AI directly moves machines and robots in the physical world — WIM is drawing international attention as a startup poised to lead this space.

This achievement carries added weight as one built by a regionally rooted startup. WIM is anchored in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region, led by founders and executives from Kyungpook National University, and grown together with talent from KAIST, DGIST, and Kyungpook National University, among other regional institutions. In a startup ecosystem centered on the greater Seoul area, WIM's case — reaching a global final with regional talent alone — is notable, and among this round's finalists, WIM is the only company from the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region.

The final round and the corporate matching program will take place on September 22 at 'NVIDIA AI Day' in Singapore. The Top 10 companies selected there will get the chance to showcase their technology at a global innovation event and pursue field validation and business partnerships with global corporate partners.

WIM CEO Woojin Jeon said, "Reaching the finals out of more than 10,000 startups reaffirms our conviction that our technology can work in real industrial settings. It means even more that a company built by regional talent from Kyungpook National University, KAIST, and DGIST gets to represent Daegu-Gyeongbuk on the world stage. At the finals, we will show how W-RC and PLEM actually solve robot control problems across a range of industries, and prove the strength of a regional startup leading the era of Physical AI."

WIM Inc. is an AI robotics company that develops W-RC, a hardware controller that integrates AI inference, real-time robot control, and industrial communication on a single SoC, together with PLEM, the integrated robot control platform that runs on top of it. Swapping only the task module on the same hardware platform allows it to be redeployed across diverse industries. Led by founders and executives from Kyungpook National University, WIM is a Daegu-Gyeongbuk-based startup built together with regional talent from KAIST, DGIST, Kyungpook National University, and beyond.