Jungjingong Supports Seed Investment of 3.2 Billion KRW for Early-Stage Startup Sprout Companies

Competition Ratio Reaches 5 to 1... 154 Companies Enrolled and Graduated from Youth Startup Academy Gather

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 11th that it has finally selected 31 companies that have entered or graduated from the Youth Startup Academy as targets for the 'Seed Investment Support Project for Sprout Companies.' The seed investment support for sprout companies is a project that invests up to 150 million KRW per company in the form of convertible bonds, linked to future value growth, targeting companies that have entered or graduated from the Youth Startup Academy with promising items and innovative technologies.

Since the recruitment of participating companies began in April, 154 companies applied, recording a competition rate of over 5 to 1. SBC finally selected 31 companies as support targets through the first investment suitability evaluation and the second selection committee. Among the 31 selected companies were Rajen (CEO Park Young-sun), a developer of real-time sign language translation AI solutions, and Limz (CEO Baek Ki-su), a manufacturer of capsule-type customized cosmetics.

SBC explained that through field meetings with startups, it confirmed the need for early-stage company funding support and decided to support seed investment for sprout companies by linking the Youth Startup Academy, which discovers and nurtures early startups, with the Venture Convergence Finance Division, which supports growth-sharing funds.

Chairman Kim Hak-do said, "The selected companies will receive follow-up value-up support through KOSME IR Mart and Korea Development Bank's NextRise," adding, "SBC will lead the innovative growth of startup companies by discovering entrepreneurs with technological skills and a spirit of challenge through the Youth Startup Academy, while expanding relay-style support such as linked investment of growth-sharing funds to excellent companies."