K-Startups Heading to the Middle East... EWC Appointed as Korea Representative

4 Teams Including VSPAMTECH and Medipixel Selected
Competing for $1 Million Prize Money

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 11th that it has finally selected four teams?VS PharmTech, Medipixel, EnergyX, and SpaceMap?as Korea’s representatives advancing to the global finals of the ‘EWC (Entrepreneurship World Cup) 2024.’

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a bilateral meeting with Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, on the 29th of last month at the 63 Building in Seoul and took a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

The EWC is a startup competition hosted by the Saudi Arabian Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). The total prize money for the competition reaches 1 million USD. Since its inception in 2019, approximately 400,000 teams from over 200 countries worldwide have participated in the EWC.

At the previous EWC 2021, the Korean electronic nerve solution specialist company ‘Todak’ won the Grand Prize, raising interest and status of Korean companies in the Middle Eastern market. Accordingly, starting this year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development signed a business agreement with the Global Entrepreneurship Network and held the official Korean preliminary round as the official operating institutions.

Among a total of 106 domestic startup teams that applied to participate in EWC 2024, the Ministry selected 13 teams through a document evaluation. Subsequently, the selected teams competed in front of an audience through a public English presentation held on the 7th. As a result, the Grand Prize was awarded to VS PharmTech (developer of radiation sensitizers), the Excellence Award to Medipixel (cardiovascular disease diagnostic software), the Merit Award to EnergyX (sustainable architectural technology platform), and the Encouragement Award to SpaceMap (real-time decision-making platform for the space industry).

The four teams will advance to the EWC global finals held at BIBAN 2024, the largest startup event in the Middle East organized by the Saudi Arabian Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, where they will compete against outstanding startups worldwide for the total prize of 1 million USD.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to actively support the entry of K-startups into the Middle East by organizing a ‘K-Startup Pavilion’ at BIBAN 2024 and supporting the exhibition participation of startups that demonstrated excellent capabilities in the Korean preliminary round.