Fostering AI and Techfin Innovative Companies... Startup Conditions Relaxed from 3 to 7 Years

Ministry of Science and ICT Selects 6 New Accelerators for 'K-Global Accelerator Development Project'
Recruiting Over 50 Startup and Venture Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The government has newly selected six accelerators specializing in domestic ICT startups and venture companies and is recruiting about 50 startup and venture companies. Starting this year, the eligibility criteria for recruitment have been expanded from companies within three years of establishment to those within seven years, which is expected to alleviate some difficulties in attracting investment.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 6th that it had selected six accelerators to participate in the 2021 'K-Global Accelerator Development Project.' These are ▲Seoul National University Technology Holdings, ▲CNT Tech, ▲N15 Partners, ▲Y&Archer, ▲Yozma Group Korea, and ▲K Accelerator.

The newly selected accelerators will use 300 million KRW in government support funds and 100 million KRW of their own resources to carry out activities necessary for the global expansion of startups and venture companies possessing innovative ICT technologies, such as participating in overseas startup conferences and discovering and cooperating with overseas partners.

Over the next 5 to 6 months, the accelerators will recruit about eight startup and venture companies each to support mentoring, commercialization and technical support, early-stage investment, networking, and demo days for global expansion. In total, about 50 companies will be recruited. The recruitment period is from the 10th to the 31st of this month, with detailed differences depending on each accelerator.

Additionally, apart from the project funds, the accelerators will make early-stage investments totaling more than 150 million KRW in the startups and venture companies they nurture and will also support follow-up investment attraction linked to angel investors and venture capital (VC).

Selected startups and venture companies will also be provided with various overseas investment support benefits, such as opportunities to participate in the Born2Global Center’s Global Startup Roadshow, IR sessions hosted by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and export and investment consultation meetings.

Started in 2014, the K-Global Accelerator Development Project supports the overall acceleration process, including discovering, nurturing, and attracting investment for promising ICT startups and venture companies, to strengthen the global capabilities of accelerators specialized in the ICT field. Over the past seven years until last year, a total of 39 accelerators have been selected and supported, through which 322 ICT startups and venture companies have been discovered and nurtured.

From this year, the target startups and venture companies nurtured by accelerators will be expanded from prospective entrepreneurs and early-stage startups (within three years) to startups and venture companies within seven years to enhance global achievements such as overseas investment attraction.

Lee Seung-won, Director of the Information and Communications Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "Through the government's continuous K-Global Accelerator project, we plan to strengthen the global support capabilities of ICT-specialized accelerators and actively support the high growth and overseas expansion of ICT startups and venture companies to revitalize the domestic ICT startup ecosystem."