Seocho-gu Recruiting Participants for 'Social Economy Culture and Arts Youth Startup Support Project'

Seocho District Publicly Recruits Over 20 Seocho Youth Entrepreneur Teams Aspiring to Start Social Enterprises in Culture and Arts
Expanding Startup Scope to Fair Trade, Resource Circulation, and Social Tech Sectors to Realize Social Value and Promote Social Contribution through Business Activities... Applications Open Until the 23rd of This Month, Final Teams Selected Next Month, Projects to Begin in April... Total Support of 4 Billion KRW Including Up to 25 Million KRW for Initial Business Costs or Up to 5.4 Million KRW for Rent Assistance

Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) has launched a recruitment drive for participants in the ‘Social Economy Culture and Arts Youth Startup Support Project’ to support young people dreaming of starting social enterprises in the culture and arts sector.

The district plans to select a total of 20 teams by the 23rd of this month and will provide up to 25 million KRW in business expenses for initial social enterprise startups and up to 5.4 million KRW in rent support for business stabilization, totaling approximately 400 million KRW in funding for the final selected teams.

This project expands the scope of the culture and arts field to include social economy sectors reflecting recent trends such as ▲fair trade ▲resource circulation ▲social tech (businesses that apply the latest technology to create social value), aiming to offer more young people startup opportunities and to lead to the realization of social value and social contribution.

Additionally, the district will run a ‘Startup Capacity Building Academy’ in collaboration with the Seocho-gu Social Economy Integrated Support Center. The program includes ▲benchmarking workshops with excellent companies ▲practical expert training on startup and social economy enterprise establishment ▲1:1 expert consulting on finance and accounting, human resources and labor, marketing, and more, to help young entrepreneurs overcome the initial difficulties of starting a business.

Since 2018, the district has supported a total of 109 teams in the culture and arts youth startup support project over six years.

In particular, last year, 21 teams participated in the project, promoting social economy businesses based on various culture and arts startup ideas. Among them, 19 teams recorded an average sales increase of 176% compared to 2022, created 25 new jobs, and are steadily running their businesses. Additionally, five teams filed patents and registered trademarks, and secured external investments worth approximately 160 million KRW, achieving excellent results.

Youth startup items in the culture and arts field include ▲senior art dealer training projects ▲‘Out-of-school youth employment linkage platform’ and culture and arts planning agencies ▲moss terrarium products using recycled plastics ▲research and planning of programs that care for the mind through everyday art.

㈜Pulphil, which participated in the project for the first time last year, is a promotional video production company for small business owners, local governments, and social enterprises working with aspiring actors and others. It carries out business activities to realize social value by ‘helping artists lead better lives and professional activities,’ recording a 272% sales increase from 147 million KRW in 2022 to 410 million KRW in 2023.

Furthermore, the startup official reported that they succeeded in securing investment from ‘AC Primer,’ Korea’s top startup investment and mentoring institution, through partnerships with Naver and Disney and joint film promotions.

The project recruitment targets are prospective or early-stage startup teams aged 19 to under 39 who reside or are active in Seocho-gu and have business items related to social economy enterprises in culture and arts. Applications can be submitted by direct visit or email.

The district plans to select the final supported teams through screening in March and provide subsidies. The selected teams will participate in the project starting April this year. For more details, refer to the recruitment announcement on the Seocho-gu Office website or contact the Job Economy Division.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “We will continue to do our best to support social economy youth enterprises in various fields such as culture and arts to grow not only in sales but also as ‘good companies’ that share social value and spread positive influence throughout Seocho.”

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