Seoul City-SBA, 2nd Recruitment for Technology Commercialization Support Project... Up to 50 Million KRW R&D Funding Available

Addition of Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the Largest US Crowdfunding Platforms Following Japan and Taiwan
Up to 40 Million KRW Support for Successful Crowdfunding Companies on Domestic Platforms... Up to 50 Million KRW on Overseas Platforms

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The 'Seoul Metropolitan Government' and the 'Seoul Business Agency (SBA),' a support organization for technology development and commercialization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Seoul, announced on the 29th that they will recruit companies for the second round of the '2022 Technology Commercialization Support Project (Crowdfunding Type)' until the 24th of next month.

This project supports Seoul-based SMEs possessing technology to verify marketability through product production in a short period by linking with crowdfunding platforms, providing up to 50 million KRW in direct R&D funds related to commercialization, including ▲product development ▲prototype and sample product advancement ▲performance and reliability testing ▲consumer evaluation and certification ▲various crowdfunding expenses.

The eligible applicants are corporations and individual businesses located in Seoul that possess technology at the (prototype) product or beta version stage. Upon achieving the crowdfunding target amount, they can receive up to 40 million KRW domestically and up to 50 million KRW internationally as city support funds.

In the second recruitment, American crowdfunding platforms (Kickstarter, Indiegogo), which many companies have hoped for, have been added, allowing selection from a total of eight platforms. Additional benefits such as linkage with partner organizations for corporate establishment and account opening for conducting crowdfunding in the U.S. will also be provided. Domestically, there are Wadiz, OhmyCompany, Tumblbug, and Naver Happybean, while internationally, there are U.S. Kickstarter and Indiegogo, Japan's Makuake, and Taiwan's Zeczec, enabling companies to choose platforms that suit their product characteristics.

Additionally, by linking with the SBA's internal Seoul Startup Hub Gongdeok Product Support Center, priority support for facility use and technical review for prototype production and initial mass production will be provided, helping reduce trial and error in the product manufacturing process and thus saving costs and time for SMEs.

To enhance understanding of crowdfunding platforms, online briefings for each platform will be held during the second recruitment. OhmyCompany, Wadiz, Makuake, Tumblbug, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo sessions are scheduled for the 16th of next month. All will be conducted online, and some require prior registration, so it is advisable to check in advance if you wish to participate. Detailed schedules and online briefing registration can be found on the SBA Seoul R&D Support Center website.

The Technology Commercialization Support Project (Crowdfunding Type) is now in its sixth year, having supported 374 companies over the past five years, achieving a total funding amount of 5.5 billion KRW and attracting over 65,000 investors. It is a flagship project of the SBA Seoul R&D Support Center.

Park Bo-kyung, Head of the Division, said, “We plan to actively link various functions such as investment and distribution possessed by each platform, online sales channels like live commerce Grip, as well as various functions owned by SBA itself, to support the sustainable growth of Seoul startups.”