Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces Recruitment for Youth Technology Startup Competition Utilizing Public Technology

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 8th that it is recruiting participants for the 'Public Technology Utilization Youth Technology Startup Competition' to revitalize youth technology startups, jointly organized with related ministries including the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

The Public Technology Utilization Youth Technology Startup Competition is a follow-up measure to the 'Youth Special Measures' jointly announced by related ministries last August. It is conducted to spread the momentum of the second venture boom to the youth generation and to promote technology startups for creating competitive jobs. The competition is piloted to increase youth interest in public technology and to promote commercialization of public technology.

The competition is hosted through collaboration among the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which oversees the newly established and reinforced youth policy task force as of last September, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korean Intellectual Property Office. It aims to discover outstanding (preliminary) startup founders who combine public research and development (R&D) outcomes funded by government budgets with innovative ideas from youth.

To participate in the competition, applications must be submitted from the 9th until January 27 of next year. Eligible participants are youth under the age of 39 who are either (preliminary) startup founders (teams) or representatives of startups established within the last three years.

The competition proceeds by opening public R&D achievements held in the public technology database (DB) to youth (preliminary) startup founders. The youth search for technologies of interest among public technologies, develop commercialization ideas through explanatory materials and consultations with technology holders, and prepare business plans accordingly.

Through evaluation of submitted business plans, 40 teams will be selected. After preliminary presentation evaluations, 15 teams will be chosen to refine and specify their business plans through expert mentoring. Finally, 10 teams will be selected through a final corporate presentation (IR) evaluation at the end of March. These teams will receive a total prize of 340 million KRW and support programs for successful startup commercialization, technology commercialization and technology transaction consulting, and education to strengthen technology startup capabilities.

(Preliminary) startup founders wishing to participate in the Public Technology Utilization Youth Technology Startup Competition can check the integrated announcement posted on the K-Startup website and apply during the recruitment period.

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