Business Support for Scale-up and Innovative Growth of Startups with 3 to 7 Years of Experience
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, Ministry of SMEs) and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (President Kim Kwang-hyun, Kised) announced on the 11th that they are recruiting entrepreneurs to participate in the 'Startup Leap Package Support Project,' which supports leap-stage companies with 3 to 7 years of growth DNA with up to 400 million KRW.
The Startup Leap Package Support Project targets leap-stage companies with high growth potential, providing commercialization support through technology advancement and operating growth promotion programs to increase sales and accelerate growth. This year, a total budget of 127.5 billion KRW will be invested to select and support approximately 1,350 leap-stage companies with high growth potential, significantly expanding the budget and support scale compared to the previous year. In particular, a 'Fast Track' system has been newly established and operated to allow startup companies with excellent growth potential selected in the early-stage business to participate in the Startup Leap Package project regardless of their business age criteria.
This project recruits startup companies to participate in commercialization support and growth promotion programs, considering the growth stage and characteristics of leap-stage companies, and overlapping participation in both projects is possible. Startup companies selected for commercialization support can receive funding required for sales increase, market entry, and validation, such as business model (BM) improvement and item verification and reinforcement. They can also participate in specialized programs such as education, mentoring, IR, and networking promoted by dedicated and leading institutions.
The growth promotion program is a customized growth support program for each company, allowing overlapping selection within a voucher limit of up to 100 million KRW for five programs including product/design improvement, export, listing promotion, and distribution linkage. Selection evaluations are conducted through the recruitment process of startup companies by 17 leading institutions nationwide, and the support announcement for the growth promotion program is scheduled to be posted on February 21.
Companies wishing to participate in the project can apply online through the K-Startup website. The 'Global Scale-up Platform,' which can advance technology and services in cooperation with global companies such as Google, is scheduled to be announced in March, and simultaneous application with this commercialization support is possible, but overlapping selection is not allowed. Kim Kwang-hyun, president of Kised, stated, "Since leap-stage companies are showing high sales and employment performance, they are a key factor in revitalizing the startup ecosystem. We will make every effort to operate the project so that the growth acceleration of innovative companies can be achieved through the Startup Leap Package Support Project."
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