Student Startup Competition Supports 1.58 Billion KRW Through Cloud Funding

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] The government is holding an online competition to promote student startups. A total of 300 teams will participate in cloud funding, and based on the results, they will advance to the finals of 'Challenge! K-Startup 2020' held this October to compete for a total prize of 1.58 billion KRW.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Education announced on the 9th that they will hold the 2020 Student Promising Startup Teams 300 Online Competition together with the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Korea Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation. This competition was organized to strengthen students' entrepreneurial capabilities and discover commercialization models.

Considering the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the government is holding this competition online. From the 10th to the 21st, companies (startups, etc.) in need of funds will compete through simulated crowdfunding, a method of raising funds from a large number of people via web or mobile platforms, to determine the ranking of participating teams.

A total of 315 teams are participating in this competition. The Ministry of Science and ICT selected 300 teams and 15 teams from 886 startup challenge type teams and 116 startup education type teams, respectively. The 300 startup challenge teams were selected as 265 teams in the practical startup track open to all students nationwide and 35 teams in the technology startup (laboratory startup) track for graduate students. For the newly selected startup education type this year, 15 teams composed of individuals with innovative ideas who received basic startup education were chosen. These teams will be provided growth opportunities to lead to actual startups.

The government will combine the results of crowdfunding investment attraction, preliminary round scores, and education participation scores to select the top 35 teams to advance to the finals of 'Challenge! K-Startup 2020' held in October. They will compete for a total prize of 1.58 billion KRW against startup teams that advanced through each ministry's preliminary rounds.

Crowdfunding investments will be conducted by a public evaluation group of 10,000 people. By signing up through the website established for simulated crowdfunding, participants receive virtual investment funds (20 million KRW), and they can invest between 1 million and 5 million KRW. Successful investments can earn various prizes.

Kwon Seokmin, Director of Science and Technology Job Innovation at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "We hope that public interest in school startups will increase through this competition," and added, "We will actively support so that research achievements held by universities and others can be converted into economic and social value."

Kim Ilsu, Director of Vocational Education Policy at the Ministry of Education, said, "Since this competition is an opportunity for the value of creative ideas to be recognized by the public, I hope that students with innovative entrepreneurial spirit can realize their dreams."