'Jeong Ju-Young Startup Competition' Competition Rate 90 to 1
Startups Emerge as New Driving Force Leading the Digital Economy
Despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, enthusiasm for startup creation is growing even stronger. Although the overall economy has contracted, startups equipped with non-face-to-face (untact) technologies are emerging as new driving forces leading the transition to a digital economy. The venture investment sector is experiencing record-breaking performance, and the competition rates for various startup creation contests are approaching 100 to 1.
According to the Asan Nanum Foundation on the 29th, a total of 1,084 teams applied for this year’s ‘Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition,’ which aims to discover prospective entrepreneurs and startups. Considering that the competition plans to select 12 teams to advance to the business execution stage, the competition rate is 90 to 1. Last year, 1,220 teams applied, and 11 teams were selected, pushing the competition rate up to 110 to 1. The Asan Nanum Foundation explained that the startup enthusiasm continues this year following last year’s nearly doubled number of applicants compared to the previous year.
Started in 2012 and now in its 10th edition, this competition is a leading platform for discovering startups in Korea, attracting significant attention from entrepreneurs every year. Especially at the business execution stage, the Asan Nanum Foundation provides office space at its startup support center ‘Maru180’ and dedicated mentoring from experts at leading domestic venture capital and accelerator firms, establishing itself as a cradle for promising startups.
The enthusiasm for startups is also evident in the results of the Small and Medium Business Corporation’s Youth Startup Academy support. A total of 5,484 applicants applied for the 11th cohort this year, recording a final competition rate of 5.15 to 1. The Small and Medium Business Corporation explained that this is the highest competition rate in the past five years. The Youth Startup Academy, which discovers excellent entrepreneurs with promising startup ideas and innovative technologies and supports all stages for successful startup creation as a package, is highly attractive to early-stage startups. Admitted companies receive up to 100 million KRW in commercialization funds within 70% of the total project cost for one year, along with startup space, practical training, and expert coaching.
The increased enthusiasm for startup creation is also analyzed to be related to the fact that companies that started as Korean startups, such as Coupang, Woowa Brothers, and Hyperconnect, have formalized trillion-won scale exits in the global market this year, gaining worldwide recognition for the so-called ‘K-Startup’ business model.
Meanwhile, venture investment in the first quarter of this year reached 1.2455 trillion KRW, an increase of more than 60% compared to the previous year, marking the highest first-quarter record ever. The number of investment deals and invested companies in the first quarter also reached 989 and 558, respectively, the highest since 2000. A venture and startup industry official said, "Startups have proven their capabilities to lead the post-COVID digital economic model through untact technologies during the crisis recovery process," adding, "Interest in startup creation, which has emerged as a new growth engine in the post-COVID era, is also increasing."
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