Startup Growth Gateway 'Seoul Innovation Challenge'... Up to 200 Million KRW Support for Outstanding Innovative Technologies

Innovative Ideas and Technologies for Core Technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution? R&D Cost Support for Technology Discovery
Applications Open from the 6th, Running for 10 Months Until December This Year

Excellent Cases of Companies Participating in the Seoul Innovation Challenge

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will launch the 'Seoul Innovation Challenge' on the 16th, a first among local governments to solve urban problems through an open platform and to discover innovative ideas and technologies leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

According to Seoul City on the 15th, the 'Seoul Innovation Challenge,' now in its fifth year, has discovered and supported 1,501 innovative technologies over the past four years. Starting this year, the scope of technology recruitment will be expanded to actively support not only existing artificial intelligence (machine learning) and blockchain technologies but also technology development utilizing drone technology.

Teams participating in the 'Seoul Innovation Challenge,' which runs for 10 months, will form new teams to share and develop ideas with professional mentors and other participants through the 'Networking Day (May-June),' an event that promotes idea exchange and collaboration. The 28 teams that pass the preliminary evaluation (July) will receive 20 million KRW per team for prototype development, and 13 final teams will be selected by evaluating prototypes in the final evaluation (December).

Seoul City plans to support the final 13 teams with up to 200 million KRW in R&D costs, assist in technology advancement with global leading companies, and provide opportunities for overseas expansion, continuing sustainable growth management. Even teams that do not advance to the finals will receive mentoring from a panel of experts in Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, as well as experts in intellectual property, commercialization-related laws, and regulations, consisting of 200 mentors across 30 fields for the 28 teams that pass the preliminary round.

To accelerate the growth of innovative companies, Seoul City will actively support various collaboration opportunities between startups and global large corporations, enabling startups to achieve stable growth and seize overseas market entry opportunities, while large corporations can discover innovative technologies in new industry sectors. Seoul citizens, prospective entrepreneurs, universities, and small and medium enterprises (including foreigners) wishing to participate in the Seoul Innovation Challenge can apply online through the SBA website notice by the 2nd.

Kim Ui-seung, Director of Seoul City's Economic Policy Office, said, "We will systematically support the entire process from business planning, technology commercialization, to market entry so that startups with innovative technologies and ideas can overcome the 'death valley' and grow stably." He added, "Furthermore, we will continue to support teams eliminated in the finals by providing opportunities to re-challenge so that their efforts can be refined into competitive innovative technologies."

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