Gwangju Dong-gu to Host 'National Youth Startup Idea Competition' on the 7th of Next Month

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) announced on the 6th that it will hold the "2nd Gwangju Metropolitan City Dong-gu Mayor's Cup National Youth Startup Idea Competition" on the 7th of next month.

This competition, under the theme "Find Gwangju-type Startup Ideas Leading the Post-Corona Korean New Deal!", was organized to discover startup ideas that can respond to the post-corona era by utilizing regional resources from young entrepreneurs nationwide.

Originally, it was scheduled to be held on the 19th of last month to commemorate the newly designated "Youth Day" this year, but it was postponed to the 7th of next month due to concerns over the resurgence of COVID-19.

This year, reflecting feedback from participants of the previous competition, the participation age range has been expanded to 15 to 39 years old, and for fairness, applications and evaluations will be conducted separately for prospective young entrepreneurs and existing entrepreneurs.

Dong-gu plans to limit and select 24 teams to participate in the main competition through document screening to ensure a safe event.

If the COVID-19 crisis alert level is raised to a serious stage, eight finalist teams will be pre-selected through non-face-to-face mentoring and cross-evaluation.

The district plans to award a total of 3.2 million won in prize money and certificates to eight teams, including the grand prize team receiving the Gwangju Metropolitan City Mayor's Award and a prize of 1 million won, following evaluation by professional judges.

To support the challenges of young people, the Korea Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation (Chairman Hwang Cheol-ju) will sponsor special awards again this year, following last year.

Dong-gu will grant additional points to finalists when moving into the Dong-gu Startup Support Center and actively support business connections and mentoring through networking with related organizations.

Mayor Im Taek of Dong-gu said, "I hope many innovative ideas will emerge to actively respond to the era changes brought by COVID-19 and lead the Gwangju-type Korean New Deal," adding, "Through discovering creative ideas and excellent cases utilizing regional resources, Dong-gu will leap forward as a youth ecological city it aspires to be."

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