Incheon City Supports Young Entrepreneurs' Overseas Expansion... 100 Discovered Over 4 Years

Incheon City will discover 100 young entrepreneurs over the next four years until 2026 and help them expand overseas.

The city announced on the 5th that it will promote the "Youth Overseas Expansion Base Support Project" to help young people with dreams of starting businesses abroad grow on the global stage.

To this end, the goal is to discover and support 100 young (prospective) entrepreneurs to expand overseas from this year through 2026.

First, this year, about 10 young entrepreneurs will be selected to assist their expansion into the Asian region. Next month, the city plans to recruit young entrepreneurs who wish to expand overseas. Anyone who has been a startup founder or prospective entrepreneur within 7 years, residing or having a business location in Incheon as of the recruitment announcement date, can apply.

The target regions for expansion will be finally selected after receiving proposals on overseas network areas held by accelerators (AC) during the AC recruitment this month and conducting evaluations.

The Youth Entrepreneur Overseas Expansion Support Program will be exclusively operated by the Incheon Center for Creative Economy and Innovation in stages.

In the first stage, to strengthen capabilities, an AC with abundant experience and networks in supporting overseas expansion will be selected as the lead organization to operate continuous mentoring, consulting, and investment attraction enhancement programs.

In the second stage, support will be provided for commercialization such as prototype production, promotion and marketing, and participation in conferences. In the final third stage, support will be given for full-scale overseas expansion, including local market research, discovering and matching global partners, and establishing local corporations, providing opportunities for young entrepreneurs to freely pursue their dreams.

In particular, to ensure practical startup support overseas, the dedicated accelerator will utilize the overseas networks it has previously established to support the successful overseas expansion of startup companies.

Depending on the results of this year's project, the city plans to expand the overseas expansion regions, number of participants, and support areas.

An official from Incheon City stated, "Incheon City will serve as a forward base so that Korea's talented young entrepreneurs can challenge overseas expansion through Incheon, nurture their entrepreneurial dreams, and grow on the global stage.