Design Promotion Institute Announces Recruitment of Participating Companies for 'Strengthening Innovation Capabilities of Social Enterprises' Project

45 Companies Selected This Year... Development and Advancement of Innovative Business Models
Design Consulting and Workforce Support... Applications Open Until the 8th of Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Korea Institute of Design Promotion announced on the 9th that it is recruiting companies to participate in the '2021 Design-led Social Enterprise Innovation Capacity Building' project.

This project aims to strengthen the capabilities of social economy organizations and establish a sustainable self-reliant ecosystem by utilizing design as an innovation tool.

Last year, the second term, implemented business model development for social economy organizations (23 companies), design consulting (20 companies), and designer matching and manpower support (12 companies).

As a result, it achieved excellent outcomes including attracting investments worth 3.14 billion KRW, signing 20 contracts, filing 10 patents, trademarks, and design applications, and creating 40 jobs.

This year, about 45 companies will be selected from certified social enterprises, preliminary social enterprises, social ventures, and other social economy organizations aiming to introduce social innovation services, to develop and advance creative and innovative business models.

For social economy organizations seeking to commercialize social innovation business models, the project supports business expenses necessary for customer research, stakeholder mapping, customer journey and service visualization, prototyping, and user testing for 'Business Model (BM) Development.'

Additionally, for companies aiming to advance their services or business models, a group of service design experts will be formed to support 'Design Consulting' including consumer research, marketing strategy establishment, and product/service improvement.

For companies expected to have high growth potential upon design investment, 'Design Manpower Support' will be provided, linking design personnel recruitment and subsidizing part of the labor costs (about 50%).

Furthermore, outstanding companies among the supported organizations will be selected to offer additional business creation opportunities such as invitations to demo days, and online sales channel support including live commerce and crowdfunding.

This project selects final companies after the first document screening and the second interview evaluation. Companies wishing to participate can apply on the Korea Institute of Design Promotion website by the 8th of next month.