Young Entrepreneurs Eligible for 20 Million KRW Startup Funds and Special Public Housing Supply Qualifications

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces 'Measures to Revitalize Youth Entrepreneurship'

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups giving a briefing.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] When young people in their 20s challenge entrepreneurship for the first time, they will receive up to 20 million KRW in commercialization funds and be granted special supply qualifications when public rental housing is provided. In addition, Creative Innovation Centers and universities will be reorganized as central hubs for youth entrepreneurship.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has prepared the "Youth Entrepreneurship Activation Plan" with these contents to continuously spread the enthusiasm for youth entrepreneurship and sustain the second venture boom, and announced it on the 28th at the "36th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting and 3rd Innovation Growth Strategy Meeting."

20 Million KRW Commercialization Fund Support, Nurturing 1,000 Young Entrepreneurs This Year

First, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will expand and reorganize online entrepreneurship education content focusing on tax and accounting areas where young people face difficulties, and select 500 young people who have completed entrepreneurship education to support 3 million KRW as "Practical Startup Preparation Funds" to pre-verify their startup items.

To help young people in their 20s quickly build initial capabilities when challenging entrepreneurship for the first time, a "First-time Youth Startup Support Program" will be newly established, providing up to 20 million KRW in commercialization funds, mentoring from senior entrepreneurs, and education programs such as tax and accounting. Through this, a total of 1,000 young entrepreneurs in their 20s will be additionally nurtured.

They will also solve difficulties faced by young entrepreneurs in the field such as manpower, manufacturing, funding, and housing. To alleviate the developer manpower shortage in youth startup companies, the "Startup & Venture Youth Talent Connect" project will be promoted, which trains AI developers tailored to startup companies through one year of intensive education and links them to startup and venture company recruitment.

For beginner developers who have basic development skills but lack practical experience, the "SOS Developer Project" will be conducted to provide internship experience in startup sites and nurture them into skilled developers.

In the manufacturing sector, an "Online Integrated Platform" will be established that comprehensively provides information on outsourcing production companies to enable prototype production and full-scale mass production, and the maker space support system will be reorganized to significantly expand specialized labs up to 30 by 2022 so that maker spaces can practically help youth manufacturing startups.

Infographic on the 'Youth Startup Activation Plan' announced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. [Graphic by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

Special Supply Qualification for Public Rental Housing, Policy Funds Expanded to 500 Billion KRW

In particular, to allow young people to focus solely on startup activities without housing worries, from 2022, special supply qualifications will be granted to young entrepreneurs when supplying public rental housing through public purchase and remodeling.

To resolve funding difficulties of youth startup companies, a "Youth Tech Star Guarantee" program will be newly established as a special guarantee program providing guarantees up to 600 million KRW, and the scale of policy funds for youth startup companies will also be expanded to 500 billion KRW in 2022.

To activate youth entrepreneurship, 17 Creative Economy Innovation Centers nationwide will operate open mentoring and help desks where top experts in each field provide professional knowledge to assist young people in starting businesses.

The role of universities in activating youth entrepreneurship will also be strengthened. Universities with excellent startup support environments will be designated as "(tentative name) Startup-Centered Universities" (5 universities, second half of 2021) and will be nurtured to become representative youth startup support institutions in their regions by leading the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' entrepreneurship support projects for five years.

In addition, startup-friendly academic systems such as startup leave of absence and startup substitute credit systems will be activated so that university students can continue startup activities without giving up their studies.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups expects that if these projects are promoted, mentoring and education for youth entrepreneurship will be provided to 23,000 people annually, 1,000 newly prepared youth startup companies will be additionally discovered and nurtured this year alone, and the initial financial burden of youth startup companies will be reduced by about 1 trillion KRW annually.

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "Young people are the driving force of innovative growth and the future leaders of our economy," adding, "The government will cheer on and faithfully support the challenges and growth of youth startups and do its best to ensure that the passionate startup enthusiasm and the second venture boom continue."

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