Seoul City Provides Up to 50 Million KRW Employment Retention Support Fund for Foreign Startups

New Criteria Relaxed to Support Early Startups for Foreign-Invested Companies Hiring More Than 5 in New Industries Like IT and Bio
Up to 6 Million KRW per Employee Exceeding 5 per Company, Employment Must Be Maintained for 3 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City, which prioritizes startup growth (scale-up) and fostering global unicorns (unlisted companies valued over 1 trillion KRW) as the top goals of its entrepreneurship policy, is launching employment support for promising startups that have received foreign investment.

On the 19th, Seoul City announced that it will provide employment subsidies of up to 50 million KRW per company to foreign-invested startups (foreign-invested startups) that hired more than five new employees last year in new industries such as IT and bio, and intend to maintain employment going forward. Companies receiving the employment subsidy must maintain employment for three years from the year they receive the subsidy.

Investment attraction for early-stage startups, which carry high risks due to COVID-19, has sharply decreased compared to the previous year. It is predicted that the number of startups facing bankruptcy will increase due to prolonged financial difficulties caused by the extended pandemic.

Seoul City has relaxed the additional employment requirement for subsidy eligibility from 10 employees to 5 employees so that early-stage startups can actively apply for employment subsidies and receive practical support. When reviewing subsidy applications, priority will be given to “startups and other newly established venture companies.”

Foreign-invested companies wishing to apply for the subsidy can visit the Investment and Startup Division of Seoul Metropolitan Government by May 31 or apply via mail or the responsible officer’s email. For precautions and other detailed information, please refer to the Seoul City website and the Seoul Metropolitan Government Foreign Investment Support Ordinance.

Park Dae-woo, Director of Economic and Job Planning at Seoul City, said, “Early-stage startups are experiencing severe financial difficulties due to the contraction of investment sentiment caused by COVID-19. Through employment maintenance support for foreign-invested companies, Seoul City will help promising startups scale up and ultimately grow into unicorn companies.”

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