Asan Nanum Foundation Hosts the 9th Jeong Ju-young Startup Competition

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Asan Nanum Foundation (Chairman Han Jung-hwa) announced on the 18th that it will hold the 9th Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition to discover prospective entrepreneurs and startups nationwide.

The Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition is a practical startup support program conducted to inherit the entrepreneurial spirit of Asan Chung Ju-yung, the founder of Hyundai, to spread startup culture nationwide, and to discover and support startups beginning new challenges. It started in 2012 and is now in its 9th year, having produced many promising startups such as MyRealTrip, Deepmedi, and Classum.

The competition proceeds over six months through recruitment, screening, business execution, and demo day. After the first document screening and second interview screening, 10 teams advancing to the business execution stage will carry out actual business activities for 10 weeks starting in June at 'Maru180,' the startup support center operated by Asan Nanum Foundation. During the business execution stage, teams can receive dedicated mentoring from leading domestic venture capital and accelerator experts such as Kim Young-duk, Executive Director of Lotte Accelerator, Kim Kwang-soo, Partner at Bon Angels, and Park Hee-eun, Partner at Altos Ventures. Professional education programs necessary for early startups, including marketing, HR, investment, and presentation, are also provided. Additionally, besides up to 2.5 million KRW in 'seed money,' teams from outside Seoul will receive up to 2.4 million KRW per team to cover living expenses in Seoul during the competition period.

Teams that advance to demo day and win awards will receive a total prize of 155 million KRW, including a grand prize of 50 million KRW. All winning teams will receive benefits as Maru180 resident companies, including support for overseas expansion, IT service support, and recommendations to venture capital investors. Prospective entrepreneurs nationwide or companies within two years of establishment can apply, with a maximum of six members per team. Applications are accepted through the official Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition website until May 4.

Han Jung-hwa, Chairman of Asan Nanum Foundation, said, "The Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition is a symbolic program that has been aligned with the foundation’s establishment and has discovered about 77 new startup teams," adding, "We hope to meet many entrepreneurs with entrepreneurial spirit nationwide through this year’s competition as well."