Unified announcement on the 4th, preliminary rounds conclude in August
Final selection of 10 companies and 10 teams... Maximum prize of 300 million KRW
The 'Challenge! K-Startup 2025,' where prospective entrepreneurs compete to determine the best startup company, is set to launch.
On the 3rd, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Challenge! K-Startup 2025, the largest government-wide startup competition in Korea, organized collaboratively by 10 ministries including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will be actively promoted. Challenge! K-Startup began in 2016 as a collaboration among four ministries: the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and ICT, and Ministry of National Defense. Since then, the number of collaborating ministries and the scale of preliminary leagues have gradually expanded. With an average of about 5,700 teams participating annually, it has established itself as the largest startup competition in the country.
This year’s competition will start with a unified announcement on the 4th, and through ministry-specific preliminary leagues held until August, the first round of prospective entrepreneurs will be selected. Afterwards, 225 teams will compete in the integrated finals to determine the 30 teams advancing to the final championship in December. Through the final championship, 10 startup companies and 10 prospective entrepreneur teams will be selected to receive prize money totaling 1.4 billion KRW (up to 300 million KRW each) along with the Presidential Award and Prime Minister’s Award.
In particular, this year a Content League (under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) has been newly established to discover promising startups in the content industry, bringing the total number of leagues to 12. Accordingly, the number of teams advancing to the integrated finals will increase from 210 to 225. Follow-up support will also be strengthened. From the grand prize winners to the excellence award winners, teams will be prioritized for selection in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ commercialization support projects, enabling them to participate in startup commercialization support programs such as the '2026 Preliminary Startup Package.' Additionally, teams advancing to the final championship will be exempt from document evaluation.
Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, "Challenge! K-Startup is the largest government-wide startup competition in Korea, and we look forward to the creative challenges of prospective entrepreneurs. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively support these startups so that they can bring new vitality to our economy and grow into global companies."
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