Ministry of SMEs and Startups Receives 'Praise' for Differentiated Execution of 5 Startup Competitions This Year

High Interest Due to Startup-Specific Formats in Each Competition

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) announced on the 18th that it has promoted five startup competitions this year, establishing itself as a highly effective competition with strong on-site responses.

Despite the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, the number of startups in the third quarter reached 343,128, of which 57,648 were technology startups, showing increases of 13.3% and 9.1% respectively compared to the same period last year, demonstrating the sustainability of South Korea's startup ecosystem. The Ministry has vigorously promoted startup competitions this year to spread this entrepreneurial enthusiasm and to ensure that startups discovering opportunities and creating new value amid the COVID-19 crisis continue to emerge.

In particular, moving away from the traditional format of simply presenting and competing with startup ideas, each competition was planned, organized, and conducted with differentiated approaches considering the unique characteristics of the startups involved. First, the 'K-Startup Grand Challenge' is a program that discovers excellent overseas startup teams to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic startup ecosystem and supports them to start businesses in Korea, elevating its status as an international competition this year. A total of 2,648 overseas startup teams from 118 countries applied, marking a 58% increase from last year and the highest number since the first competition was held in 2016. It is evaluated that the focused promotion of past participants' success stories and improvements in visa and settlement support during the participation process were effective.

The 'Dae-Star Solver Platform' is a new win-win policy that connects startups capable of best solving problems proposed by large corporations and others, and the Ministry piloted it in two phases this year. In the first phase, 'Digital Dream 9,' startups that proposed solutions to problems in technology fields needed after COVID-19 were selected for each of the nine participating large corporations. The direct involvement of large corporations in judging highlighted the purpose and significance of the event.

In the second phase, 'Artificial Intelligence Championship,' startups that solved eight challenges that large corporations and others could not solve using AI technology were selected. It is evaluated that this showed a significant difference from existing AI competitions in that large corporations disclosed their own big data. Notably, just two weeks after the competition, Kosin University Gospel Hospital, which participated as the issuing institution, and Smart Radar System, which proposed a solution, signed a business agreement to build smart healthcare, marking tangible results. The Ministry plans to expand the 'Dae-Star Solver Platform' next year due to high interest, with inquiries from large corporations wishing to participate continuing.

CheongCheongCon was a competition promoted with the third supplementary budget this year to discover non-face-to-face startup ideas from youth under 29 years old, conducted in a way that connected senior and junior young entrepreneurs to resonate with the youth. Seven senior young entrepreneurs, including those selected as 'Asia Global Leaders' by Forbes, participated as judges and advisors, attracting great interest from startup teams. Despite a short three-week recruitment period, 738 youth startup teams applied, showing a high competition rate of 41 to 1. The Ministry plans to continue the youth startup boom by introducing the winning teams' ingenious startup ideas on Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) radio broadcasts.

'Challenge! K-Startup' is the largest domestic startup competition that discovers promising startup teams and awards prize money through inter-ministerial collaboration. It is an inter-ministerial startup competition involving seven ministries including the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, selecting 180 teams through eight preliminary leagues, 60 teams in the semifinals, and 20 teams in the finals, with the final ranking decided in the ultimate championship. With a competitive system to find the best startup teams in specialized fields handled by each ministry, the competition's status has risen so much that 7,112 teams participated, nearly double last year. The Ministry plans to support the winning teams by linking them to commercialization support projects and to further expand the participating ministries from the current seven.

Meanwhile, 'COMEUP 2020,' held as the main event of the startup competitions, is an international startup event started last year to promote Korea's startup ecosystem and provide overseas expansion opportunities for startups, conducted online and non-face-to-face this year. During the event period, the COMEUP website recorded 550,000 visits, 8,162 participant registrations, 63,311 online viewers, and 28,563 YouTube channel subscribers, achieving results befitting the original intent to set a standard for non-face-to-face events.

Cha Jung-hoon, Director of the Startup Venture Innovation Office at the Ministry, said, "Despite the difficulties caused by COVID-19, the Ministry successfully held various startup events optimized for online and non-face-to-face environments to develop the domestic startup ecosystem," adding, "Based on the confidence gained from the successful hosting, we will prepare more thoroughly and strengthen promotion next year to elevate the status of the competition as a global event."

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