Ministry of SMEs and Startups Selects 34 Teams Including The Root Company as 'Strong Small Business Owners'

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 8th that a total of 34 teams, including The Root Company, LAR, and Chobless, were selected as strong small business owners poised to grow into Lycons.

Lycon is a term combining lifestyle, local, and unicorn, referring to entrepreneurial small business owners. The Strong Small Business Owner Pitching Contest is a program that discovers promising small business owners and supports the development of differentiated products and services to nurture them into Lycons.

This event was held over three days from the 4th to the 6th at IBEX Studio in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi Province, under the slogan "New Startups of Korea, the Future of Small Business Owners." Enthusiastic competitions were held among small business owners aspiring to become lifestyle brands, local brands, and global innovators.

A total of 105 teams, selected through a high competition rate of 41 to 1, participated. After evaluations by a panel of 14 experts composed of senior entrepreneurs and investors, and a public judging panel of about 30 people, 34 teams were selected. They will receive up to 60 million KRW in the first round, followed by an additional maximum of 40 million KRW in commercialization funds for scale-up.

In the local brand category, The Root Company, which creates various local contents including potato chips in cooperation with farms using imperfect potatoes from Gangwon Province, took first place. In the lifestyle category, LAR, which produces eco-friendly sneakers and sports brands using domestic recycled plastics and discarded fishing nets, was selected first. In the global category, Chobless, a solid inner beauty beverage company utilizing traditional Korean fermented vinegar, was chosen as the winner.

Im Jong-tae, CEO of Hanbat University Technology Holdings and chair of the judging panel, stated, "It was an inspiring occasion that proved the potential for transforming small business owners into entrepreneurial small business owners, Lycons, to become a new growth engine for Korea."