Jungjingong Selects 60 Startup Teams for Global Startup Academy Admission

Innovative Technology Startups in Data, Network, and Artificial Intelligence Fields

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 19th that it has finally selected 60 outstanding startup teams with innovative technologies to lead the digital economy as the 2nd class of the Global Startup Academy.

The Global Startup Academy opened in August last year and is now in its second year. It targets startups with excellent technology and promising items in the fields of Data, Network, and Artificial Intelligence (D·N·A), providing them with technical know-how from global corporations and domestic and international experts, accelerator support from global startup planners, overseas networking, and commercialization funding in an integrated manner. In its first year last year, focusing on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field, it achieved sales of 8.4 billion KRW, 144 new jobs, and investment attraction of 5.9 billion KRW within a short business period of five months.

This year, the support target was expanded from the AI field to all D·N·A fields by adding Data and Network. The 2nd recruitment attracted 290 teams, confirming high interest. As a result of the selection, startups operating in the newly expanded support fields of Data and Network accounted for 75% of the total. Also, the proportion of young entrepreneurs under 39 years old increased by 6.7 percentage points from the previous year to 76.7%. By business age, startups less than one year old accounted for 56.6%, more than half, confirming that startups in the D·N·A innovative technology fields are gradually becoming more active.

SBC finalized the participating companies through document evaluation and English presentation evaluation. Especially this year, the evaluation system was advanced by adding a stage evaluated by global startup planners (Techstars, 500 Startups, SOSV, Plug and Play, Startupbootcamp), focusing on assessing the global capabilities of startups.

Chairman Kim Hak-do said, "Data, Network, and Artificial Intelligence are core technology fields of the digital economy's great transformation, and following last year, we confirmed the enthusiastic interest of entrepreneurs with innovative DNA in this year's 2nd class recruitment." He added, "SBC will actively support entrepreneurs with the potential to grow into global companies to lead the success of the Korean New Deal."