Busan's Premier Startup Investment Competition at BEXCO
Top 10 Finalists: Startups Founded Within the Last 5 Years
Busan Metropolitan City will host the 'B-Startup Challenge,' the nation's only equity investment-type startup competition. Now in its seventh year, this year's event will take place on September 23 at BEXCO.
The event is co-hosted by Busan Metropolitan City, BNK Busan Bank, and Busan MBC, and is organized by the Busan Technology Startup Investment Institute and BNK Venture Capital. Since its launch in 2019, the competition has produced 29 award-winning companies and attracted a total of 26 billion KRW in follow-up investments.
This year, the city plans to hold the competition in conjunction with the startup expo 'FLY ASIA.' This will provide participating companies with a unique opportunity to directly present their technological capabilities and market potential to global investors, including domestic and international venture capitalists (VCs) and accelerators (ACs).
The B-Startup Challenge is an equity investment competition targeting early-stage startups. A seed investment fund totaling 300 million KRW, fully funded by BNK Busan Bank, will be distributed among the grand prize (130 million KRW), gold prize (80 million KRW), and silver prize (50 million KRW) winners. In addition, a variety of follow-up support is available, including incubating programs, IR presentation skill enhancement, networking, and investment linkage.
The competition is open to startups founded within the past five years, with no regional restrictions. Applications can be submitted online via the Busan Startup Portal until July 18. Ten teams that pass the preliminary round will advance to the finals, where the winning companies will be selected.
Last year's winning companies have already achieved rapid results. CIT, the grand prize winner, recorded annual sales of 550 million KRW based on its low-dielectric FCCL technology and succeeded in attracting 2 billion KRW in follow-up investment. The company also won an Innovation Award at CES 2025. Elect, which won the bronze prize, achieved sales of 820 million KRW within one year of its founding with its electric excavator electrification module 'EcoCube.' Another winner, IliasAI, received an Innovation Award at CES for its olfactory AI technology for drug detection and has begun demonstration projects.
Nam Dongwoo, Director of Financial Startup Policy at Busan Metropolitan City, stated, "To overcome the investment environment centered on the Seoul metropolitan area, we plan to create a venture fund totaling 2 trillion KRW by 2030. We hope this competition will serve as a catalyst for the growth of outstanding startups."
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