Seongdong-gu Provides Startup Grants and Customized Training to Social Venture Prospective Entrepreneurs

District Provides Startup Support Funds, Customized Education, and Mentoring to 15 Social Venture Prospective Entrepreneurs... Online Startup Education from April to October, 30 Million Won Startup Preparation Fund, and 3D Printer Prototype Production

2020 Online Training for Participants in the Youth Social Venture Startup Support Program

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) is promoting the ‘2020 Social Venture Youth Startup Support Project,’ which provides startup preparation funds to prospective social venture entrepreneurs and offers customized education and mentoring.

According to the ‘Startup Company Survey’ (2018) by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the two biggest obstacles to starting a business were identified as difficulties in securing funds and a lack of overall knowledge and skills related to entrepreneurship.

Additionally, only 17.9% responded that they had received startup-related education before starting a business, while 82.1% said they had never received such education, indicating an urgent need for tailored education for entrepreneurship.

In response, since 2018, the district has been supporting ‘youth startup support’ to help young people dreaming of starting a business to challenge entrepreneurship without these obstacles.

In March, the district selected 15 teams composed of 2 to 5 prospective entrepreneurs under the age of 39 as participants in the ‘2020 Social Venture Youth Startup Support Project.’ Out of a total of 67 teams that applied, participants who passed the competition with a ratio of about 4:1 have been receiving online startup education and consulting support since April to strengthen their capabilities to analyze and concretize their business items. The startup support fund is provided for prototype production costs, material costs, rental fees, etc., excluding labor costs, with up to 30 million KRW per team.

Participants also have the opportunity to produce simple prototypes using maker equipment such as prototype photography devices and laser cutters at the 3D printing specialized workshop ‘Maker Space’ located in the Seongdong Safe Shopping District.

A district official said, “Since 2018, a total of 40 teams have participated in this project, and 17 of them have successfully started businesses. This year, we are especially focusing on supporting ‘social ventures,’ which we believe will have a twofold effect of nurturing young social innovators who lead social problem-solving and creating youth jobs.”

The district plans to provide continuous support and mutual complement through network formation among startup teams so that participants can maintain and develop their companies steadily.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “The biggest reasons young people find starting a business difficult are the lack of initial startup funds and fear of failure. We hope that this support will discover innovative ideas to solve local problems and create new jobs, generating various synergistic effects.”

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