Recruitment of Private Operators for Sejong and Jeonbuk Youth Startup Academy

Two Selected Locations with Startup Commercialization Support Capabilities

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 3rd that they will publicly recruit private operators for the Youth Startup Academy (hereinafter referred to as YSA), which will nurture innovative young entrepreneurs.

The recruitment areas are two locations: Sejong and Jeonbuk, with the number of entrants being 30 for Sejong YSA and 40 for Jeonbuk YSA. SBC has been selecting private operators with excellent startup support capabilities to run programs in order to expand the growth potential of young entrepreneurs in the early stages of startups and improve the success rate of commercialization. This year, YSA will be operated focusing on region-specific specialized fields, and plans to select and nurture prospective entrepreneurs and companies engaged in ultra-gap and new industry startup fields as well as regional key industries.

Operating since 2011, YSA provides one-stop support for all startup stages from business plan establishment to commercialization and post-graduation growth support for young entrepreneurs under the age of 39. It has produced 6,741 young entrepreneurs nationwide across 18 regions to date, and YSA alumni have achieved cumulative sales of 3.6818 trillion KRW and created 17,150 new jobs over the past five years. It has also produced unicorn companies such as Toss and Zigbang. Last year, the 12th graduating class produced 899 graduates, achieving results including sales of 225.7 billion KRW, creation of 2,729 jobs, and investment attraction of 22.3 billion KRW.