Busan City Announces Recruitment for Participants in the 'Busan Representative Tech Startup Support Project'

Applications open until 4 PM on March 4 for 4 clubs, 67 companies; apply via Busan Startup Portal

By growth stage: Bright Club - Million Club - Platinum Club - Ace Stella

On the 19th, Busan City, together with three startup support organizations (Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center, Busan Economic Promotion Agency, and Busan Technopark), will jointly recruit startups for four clubs under the ‘2024 Busan Representative Technology Startup Support Project.’

‘2024 Busan Representative Technology Startup Support Project’ Web Poster.

The four clubs are categorized by growth stage as ▲'Bright Club' (Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center) ▲'Million Club' (Busan Economic Promotion Agency) ▲'Platinum Club' (Busan Technopark) ▲'Ace Stella' (Busan Technopark), operating an integrated full-cycle support program including commercialization funding and nurturing programs tailored to each club.

The city is promoting the support project in cooperation with the Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center, Busan Economic Promotion Agency, and Busan Technopark to discover and nurture Busan startups with innovative technologies and high growth potential.

The Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center selects 20 early-stage startups with innovative technologies and business models for the 'Bright Club,' providing customized commercialization funds of up to 8 million KRW per company.

The Busan Economic Promotion Agency certifies 40 startups with annual sales exceeding 500 million KRW for the 'Million Club,' selects 20 companies through a separate evaluation, and provides commercialization funds of up to 5 million KRW. In the second year of certification, it supports three outstanding startups with up to 20 million KRW for business advancement funds.

Busan Technopark selects four startups that have attracted investments exceeding 100 million KRW for the 'Platinum Club,' providing commercialization funds of up to 10 million KRW per company and operates capacity-building programs for continuous investment attraction.

Additionally, Busan Technopark selects three startups that have secured SEED investments exceeding 500 million KRW and validated their business feasibility for the final stage of the project, 'Ace Stella,' providing commercialization funds of up to 100 million KRW and intensively nurturing promising startups to continuously grow into the Baby Unicorn and Pre-Unicorn** stages.

A Baby Unicorn company refers to an unlisted startup with a corporate value under 100 billion KRW, a Pre-Unicorn company refers to an unlisted startup with a corporate value between 100 billion KRW and 1 trillion KRW, and a Unicorn company refers to an unlisted startup with a corporate value exceeding 1 trillion KRW.

Startups selected for the four clubs will be awarded the ‘Busan Representative Technology Startup’ certificate and plaque, and certified companies will receive benefits such as financial support and access to startup spaces through a membership program.

This year, in addition to the membership program benefits, support linking the facilities and startup programs of each institution operating the clubs will be expanded.

Startups wishing to participate can apply online through the Busan Startup Portal integrated startup platform from today until 4:00 PM on March 4, and duplicate applications across clubs are not allowed.

Certified companies for each club will be selected through document and presentation evaluations by each institution.

Since 2017, the city has supported a total of 759 startups by discovering Busan-based startups with technological competitiveness and growth potential, providing commercialization funds, and supporting demand-driven education, mentoring, and networking.

Son Seong-eun, the city’s Financial Startup Policy Officer, said, “Through the foundational infrastructure and stage-specific customized growth support programs held by each startup support organization in Busan, we hope that promising technology startups in the Busan area will develop into future unicorn companies. We will continue to promote and actively support the growth of representative startups in Busan and the revitalization of the startup ecosystem.”