Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Supports Crowdfunding for 'Marine and Fisheries Innovation Companies'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 28th that it will implement the 'Marine and Fisheries Crowdfunding Support Project' to assist marine and fisheries small and venture companies struggling with funding due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Crowdfunding is an investment method where venture entrepreneurs disclose their ideas or business plans on an online platform and raise funds by receiving investments from numerous individuals. Through this, entrepreneurs can secure funds without loans in the early stages of their business while simultaneously gauging market response in advance, and investors can easily invest small amounts.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries expanded the scale of investment attraction support for marine and fisheries small businesses by newly establishing the Marine Fund with an annual scale of about 30 billion KRW last year, and this year, it is diversifying support methods by introducing the Marine and Fisheries Crowdfunding Support Project.

The support targets are (preliminary) founders and small and venture companies in the marine and fisheries sector. The project plans to support two types of funding: 'reward-based' funding, where multiple sponsors provide funds to projects promoted by fundraisers and receive rewards in forms other than monetary compensation such as idea products; and 'securities-based' funding, where funds are raised through the issuance of securities such as stocks and bonds, and investors receive future profit distributions or interest according to their shareholdings.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will conduct a preliminary survey to determine eligibility of applicant companies, and in July, through a review committee, evaluate the competitiveness, growth potential, and industrial contribution of business models to select and announce about 20 final supported companies.

Companies wishing to receive support for marine and fisheries crowdfunding can apply online through the announcement and application menu of the Marine and Fisheries Startup Investment Information System by 4 p.m. on the 30th of next month.

Selected companies will receive customized one-on-one consulting covering practical startup tasks such as accounting, taxation, and labor management, as well as business strategy planning including fundraising and investment attraction. Basic education on crowdfunding, including choosing crowdfunding platforms, will also be provided. Additionally, companies that succeed in funding will be supported with platform success fees and costs for producing promotional materials for the funding platform.

Oh Young-rok, Director of the Marine Science and Technology Policy Division at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "We hope that crowdfunding, which is gaining attention as a new investment attraction method, will greatly help promising marine and fisheries startup companies secure initial funding."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.