CJ Opens Applications for 2nd Cohort of Startup Support Program 'Ssiat'

Selected 10 Promising Startups, Offering Up to 300 Million KRW in Commercialization Support Funds and Affiliate Collaboration Opportunities

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] CJ announced on the 3rd that it is recruiting the 2nd batch of the ‘Startup Leap Package - CIAT (CIAT) Program,’ which supports the growth of promising startups, in collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development.

The CIAT program is a project launched in July last year, where six major CJ affiliates including CJ CheilJedang, CJ Logistics, and CJ ENM select and nurture startups in the leap stage (3 to 7 years since founding).

The application fields cover three areas: ▲ Food & Bio ▲ Logistics ▲ Entertainment & Media, presenting a total of 22 collaboration themes. Applications can be submitted through the K-Startup website until the 28th of this month.

CJ and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development plan to complete the selection by next month and support the concretization of business plans for 10 selected companies from May to March next year. Each company will receive up to 300 million KRW in commercialization support funds and customized step-by-step mentoring linked with CJ affiliates’ businesses over a total of 10 months.

To this end, the selected companies will undergo a ‘PoC (Proof of Concept)’ test for four months to develop and verify their technology and services. Afterwards, they will receive support such as technology and business seminars and networking to increase the likelihood of successful investment attraction.

Additionally, the selected companies will gain full-fledged investment opportunities through a demo day presenting their business performance and plans. Depending on the potential for overseas expansion, they will also receive support such as opportunities to attend global exhibitions and one-on-one meetings with local investors.

A CJ Group official said, “The CIAT program serves as a foundation for excellent startups to leap onto a full-fledged growth trajectory,” adding, “We will spare no effort to provide full support so that promising companies can achieve innovative results.”

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