Two Additional 'Startup Park' Sites Selected... 500 Million KRW Support Per Region

Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that it will select two additional 'Startup Parks' this year in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development.

Startup Parks are open innovation spaces where members of the startup and venture ecosystem can freely communicate and collaborate. Last year, the Incheon area was selected as the first Startup Park.

This year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development will select two types of Startup Parks. They plan to select 'Standalone Startup Parks' and 'Complex Startup Parks' respectively. The Standalone Startup Park is the same format as last year, aiming to establish a Startup Park in regions with excellent startup infrastructure such as universities and research institutions to foster an innovative startup ecosystem early on.

The Complex Startup Park is a newly added type this year, designed to revitalize deteriorated urban functions centered on startups and ventures by creating Startup Parks in designated areas such as existing urban regeneration New Deal projects, and additionally establishing complex hub centers to provide one-stop corporate support infrastructure and living social overhead capital (SOC).

The additional selection for Startup Parks will be open for applications from the 11th of this month until July 31st. Eligible applicants are metropolitan local governments, which can apply by forming consortia with private entities such as universities and research institutions. One metropolitan local government can apply simultaneously for both the Standalone and Complex types, provided the application areas are different. However, if one metropolitan local government is selected for both types, it can only choose one to receive support.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to support the selected metropolitan local governments with 500 million KRW per region this year for Startup Park design service costs. From next year, metropolitan local governments will create Startup Parks by matching national funds with local funds.

The final selected regions for Startup Park development will be announced in September this year after a three-stage evaluation process by a committee composed of startup experts, architecture, urban planning, and urban regeneration specialists, including document screening, on-site evaluation, and presentation assessment.

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