Seoul City Hosts Youth Alley Startup Competition... Selects 30 Young Entrepreneurs

Up to 120 million KRW support including 50 million KRW project fund + 70 million KRW startup loan for 30 selected teams
Second competition to be held in September, creating alley commercial districts where existing merchants and young entrepreneurs can collaborate

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 9th that it held the ‘Youth Alley Startup 1st Competition’ in the form of a public audition at Seoul City Hall and finally selected 30 teams to receive intensive incubation from the city.

The city recruited young entrepreneurs to participate in the competition for three weeks starting from June 17, and a total of 101 teams applied for the selection of 30 teams, showing a competition rate of 3.4 to 1. Experts conducted document and interview evaluations on the application teams regarding their motivation for starting a business, willingness to participate, and business plans, and initially selected 40 teams.

The 1st competition held on the 5th was conducted in a way that 40 teams directly presented their business plans, items, and business operation ideas. The final 30 teams were selected by evaluating items such as entrepreneurial capability, feasibility of startup items, market competitiveness and differentiation, and understanding of alley commercial districts.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to support the selected 30 teams from the 1st competition with business expenses and enable them to prepare for startups through intensive incubation for about a month. First, one-on-one customized consulting with experts by industry and field will be conducted twice. In the first session, experts help each team to concretize their business models and supplement their business plans. They also present tasks so that teams can find ways to upgrade themselves. The second consulting session provides feedback on the improved business plan content.

Additionally, the selected teams will receive business expenses ranging from 3 million KRW to a maximum of 20 million KRW based on their competition scores. The supported business expenses can only be used in areas directly related to the business, such as material costs, product development costs, and promotion and marketing costs. Strict prohibition is enforced on expenditures unrelated to the business, such as representative salaries, electronic product purchases, entertainment, luxury, or indulgence.

A special lecture session where successful senior entrepreneurs can be met directly has also been prepared. Through the lecture, the city expects young entrepreneurs to gain insights by receiving know-how on business operations and sharing various cases that can be experienced on site. Participants who receive expert consulting and incubation for about a month will participate again in the 2nd competition scheduled to be held in September with a more developed business plan.

In the 2nd competition, rankings will be determined by carefully evaluating the potential for development and profitability of business items, products, and services, self-sustainability, and other capabilities necessary for stable operation, as well as coexistence plans with existing alley commercial districts. Also, depending on the ranking, additional business expenses ranging from 7 million KRW to a maximum of 30 million KRW will be supported separately from the 1st business expenses.

Separate from business expense support, startup funds will also be lent at low interest rates. The Seoul Metropolitan Government provides loans of up to 70 million KRW only to entrepreneurs who have registered their business in the city. If they receive both competition business expense support and loans, they can secure up to 120 million KRW (50 million KRW in business expenses + 70 million KRW in loan support) as seed money.

Han Young-hee, Seoul City Labor, Fairness, and Coexistence Policy Officer, said, “We will actively support startups by young people with innovative ideas so that no young person gives up their dream of starting a business due to lack of funds or capabilities,” and added, “We will also strive to prepare measures so that existing alley merchants and newly entering young merchants can coexist.”

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