Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Recruiting 120 Teams for '2023 Local Creators'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 31st that it will recruit entrepreneurs to participate in the ‘Local Creator Activation Support’ project based on local regions from the 1st to the 28th of next month.

Local creators (entrepreneurs creating regional value) are entrepreneurs who combine innovative ideas with the natural and cultural characteristics of a region to create business value.

Since 2020, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has established the ‘Local Creator Activation Support Project’ to discover and nurture local value entrepreneurs in order to expand startup opportunities for local youth and revitalize the regional economy.

Since its establishment in 2020, the Local Creator project has recorded an average competition rate of 15.4 to 1. Among them, 61.7% are under the age of 30, reflecting the high interest of local youth. Since last year, changes have been attempted in the support targets and linkage between projects to enhance business efficiency.

First, the Local Creator (individual) track, which supports up to 40 million KRW in commercialization funds, was previously only available to companies within 7 years of establishment but has now been expanded to all businesses.

For prospective entrepreneurs, support will be provided through the prospective local creator track of the ‘New Business Startup Academy’ operated by the Small Enterprise and Market Service.

In this case, startup funds of up to 30 million KRW will be supported. When applying for the Local Creator project later, exemptions from document evaluations and other benefits will be granted to support step-by-step growth.

Companies (individuals) selected as local creators this year will be linked (with preferential scoring) to the local brand track of the Strong Small Business Support Project and the matching loan support project, receiving up to 100 million KRW in commercialization funds and up to 500 million KRW in policy funds through private capital attraction.

Additionally, through the comprehensive intellectual property (IP) creation support project of the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the regional culture professional manpower project of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, IP branding strategies and startup activities related to regional cultural content will also receive linked support.

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, “The 790 companies (730 teams) supported until last year have achieved sales of 164.4 billion KRW, 1,530 new jobs, and 20.6 billion KRW in investment attraction during the support period, making visible achievements in the regions. We will continue to support them so that they can grow into local brands and eventually become globalized companies beyond their regions.”