South Korea’s GS Group (078930) is accelerating the development of a startup technology ecosystem tied to its 2.4GW (gigawatt) artificial intelligence (AI) data center project in Donghae City, Gangwon Province. The strategy is to combine the group’s existing capabilities in power, construction, and infrastructure operations with innovative startup technologies to elevate competitiveness across the entire AI data center value chain.
GS Ventures held the “2026 GS Ventures Tech Day” on the 15th at GS Tower in Seoul’s Gangnam district. The event’s theme was AI data centers, with seven startups—including six portfolio companies backed by GS Ventures—participating to introduce their technologies and explore collaboration opportunities with group affiliates.
The event drew a large turnout including GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo, key executives, and officials from affiliates such as GS Energy, GS Caltex, GS Engineering & Construction (006360.KS), GS E&R, and GS Global (001250.KS), along with representatives from participating startups. GS Ventures has been identifying and investing in startups across power and energy, semiconductors and memory, cooling, and cloud computing, and this Tech Day was designed as a platform to combine its accumulated network and investment experience with the group’s business capabilities.
Participating companies covered a broad range of core technology areas for AI data centers. In the power sector, Synergy presented solutions that enhance the stability and energy efficiency of data center power supply, while Vincen introduced hydrogen fuel cell solutions for data centers built on technology accumulated in the shipbuilding and maritime sectors.
In the memory segment, Exina unveiled CXL (Compute Express Link)-based intelligent memory designed to alleviate data processing bottlenecks. In cooling, CoolMicro presented a D2C (direct-to-chip) liquid cooling solution that removes heat by placing cooling plates in direct contact with semiconductors, while SDT showcased an immersion cooling system that submerges servers in dielectric coolant to dissipate heat.
In the operations segment, Elice Group presented modular AI data center technology, and Vessl AI introduced GPU (graphics processing unit) cloud technology specialized for AI computing workloads. Following the individual presentations, networking sessions were held between GS affiliate business managers and the startups. Do Hyun-soo, CEO of GS AI Infra—the dedicated entity for the AI data center business—and working-level staff were also present to discuss technology applicability and business collaboration options. GS plans to review technology validation and business application potential through follow-up discussions.
GS Group’s AI data center initiative is aimed at responding to rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure. The goal is to complete a 1.2GW data center in phases in Donghae City, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, starting in 2028, then add another 1.2GW to reach a total capacity of 2.4GW. The vision is to consolidate the group’s capabilities in power generation, construction, and large-scale infrastructure operations to secure the stability, efficiency, and scalability befitting a world-class facility.
Chairman Huh Tae-soo said, “Innovative technologies from startups can be the key to unlocking technical bottlenecks in AI data centers,” adding, “We will expand the points of contact between GS and startups to grow South Korea’s AI data center technology ecosystem together.”
As competition intensifies to secure core technologies across the AI data center value chain, GS Group’s policy is to support South Korean startups in growing into globally competitive companies and, through this, contribute to the growth of the AI data center technology ecosystem. GS Ventures has held Tech Day annually to connect promising startups, including portfolio companies, with GS affiliates, expanding the group’s open innovation efforts.
