Recruitment of Participating Companies for Seoul Forest Social Venture Innovation Competition

7th Seoul Forest Social Venture Innovation Competition Now Accepting Applications from Participating Companies

Applications accepted nationwide until August 1... Competition to provide a growth platform for promising social ventures

A total of 11 companies selected in two categories based on startup experience, with up to 20 million KRW in business development funding support

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) is recruiting participating companies for the "7th Seoul Forest Social Venture Innovation Competition" until August 1.

Since the first innovation competition in 2017, Seongdong-gu has held the event annually and plans to host the 7th competition this September. Through this competition, the district has been committed to discovering promising social ventures that solve social problems with creative business models, providing business development funding, investment linkage, and other support to help these companies grow.

This competition is open to social venture companies nationwide that have been established within the last 7 years. Based on their business age, companies are divided into two categories: the Start category for those within 3 years of establishment, and the Scale-up category for those between 3 and 7 years. A total of 11 companies selected through the first preliminary screening will receive various rewards, including one-on-one mentoring and opportunities for investment review by the Seongdong ESG Fund.

In the final round, conducted in the form of business presentations and Q&A sessions, awards such as the Grand Prize, Excellence Award, Merit Award, and KT&G Award will be presented at the Seoul Forest Social Venture Expo award ceremony in September, based on evaluations by professional judges. Awarded companies will receive up to 20 million KRW in business development funding. For more details, please refer to the announcement on the Seongdong-gu Office website.

Seongdong-gu will also focus on expanding the social venture startup ecosystem. To this end, it has signed agreements with impact investment firms and related organizations and is building various networks. The district aims to concentrate its support capabilities for startups, including social ventures, to develop Seongsu-dong into a global ESG startup valley.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “Through the innovation competition, we have discovered about 60 social venture companies across various fields,” adding, “We will continue to support and encourage social ventures that change the world with sustainable business models in line with the ESG era, hoping to further activate the social venture ecosystem.”

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