Gwangju-Jeonnam Small and Medium Business Administration Recruiting Companies for 'Leap Program' Participation

Until the 16th of next month... Selection of 100 Companies
3 Years of Support Including Directing and Open Vouchers

The Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Director Jo Jong-rae) announced on the 18th that it will open the ‘Jump-Up Program’ to support promising companies in entering new businesses and new markets, and will recruit participating companies for four weeks until the 16th of next month.

The ‘Jump-Up Program’ is a new project jointly announced by related ministries at the Economic Ministers’ Meeting last August. It provides comprehensive and systematic support from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to help small and medium enterprises challenging future promising industries scale up to mid-sized companies.

The Ministry plans to select 100 companies with high growth potential to become mid-sized companies in future promising markets.

The support targets small and medium enterprises with more than seven years of business experience that have plans to enter new businesses or new markets. There are no restrictions on industry, company size, or the field of new business or market entry. Recruitment will be conducted in two ways: open public recruitment and institutional recommendation. Open public recruitment allows companies to apply directly within the period, while institutional recommendation involves recommendations through private investment firms such as VC, CVC, PE, commercial banks, and regional institutions (Technoparks).

The evaluation is divided into two stages and conducted by absolute evaluation. The first stage involves experts in management, technology, and investment evaluating the company’s technological innovation and other factors through document review, followed by on-site evaluation. The second stage selects companies that passed the first stage through a Scale-Up strategy presentation and in-depth discussions by experts in each field, with final selection made by unanimous agreement of all evaluation committee members.

Support will be provided for three years through four programs?directing, open vouchers, networking, and policy linkage?as announced at the Economic Ministers’ Meeting last August.

First, directing, composed of businesspeople, consulting firms, and research institutions, will provide close support for three years in establishing new business directions and strategies, solving technical problems, and management consulting. Open vouchers necessary for new business challenges will be issued up to 250 million KRW per company annually, totaling 750 million KRW over three years.

Additionally, to create visible results, networking programs will be operated with global investors such as VC, CVC, PE, overseas companies, and buyers. R&D, loans and guarantees, export financing, and other supports necessary for scale-up will be intensively supported in organic connection with government policies.

Detailed announcement information can be found in the ‘Jump-Up Program’ recruitment notice posted on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups website and the Small and Medium Business Corporation website. Applications can be submitted through the Small and Medium Business Corporation website.

Jo Jong-rae, Director of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration, said, “Promising companies selected through this ‘Jump-Up Program’ will receive steady government support for the next three years,” adding, “These companies are expected to become leading models that not only leap to mid-sized companies but also lead future new growth sectors, injecting dynamism into the regional economy.”