'Startup for All' Announces List of First Successful Candidates in Expedited Review

Expedited Reviews Conducted at 38 Institutions
Announcement of the First 130 Successful Candidates

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on May 10 that it has selected the first 130 successful candidates through the 'Startup for All' expedited review process.

The 'Startup for All' expedited review was introduced to minimize delays in the review process and disruptions to incubation schedules caused by concentrated applications. Under this system, talented startup founders are prioritized for selection at incubation institutions with a high volume of applicants. The ministry selected a total of 49 expedited review institutions, taking into account the application status of each institution and regional balance. On May 11, 38 of these institutions will announce 130 successful startup founders through the 'Startup for All Platform.'

By field, 102 candidates were selected in the general and technology categories and 28 in the local category. Notably, 44 founders, accounting for 33.8% of the total successful candidates, proposed integrating artificial intelligence technology into their startup ideas. By age, 83 candidates, or 63.8% of the total, were under the age of 39. In addition, 94 candidates, or 72.3% of the total, applied through non-metropolitan incubation institutions.

Among the successful startup ideas in the general and technology categories, the first foreign candidate was selected for a platform helping non-English-speaking students prepare for study in Korea independently. There were also founders aiming to address urban and social issues, such as early detection of sinkholes based on vehicle driving data. Other cases included applicants leveraging more than 20 years of on-site experience to propose ideas such as a smart automatic cleaning, diagnosis, and sterilization system for water pipelines, and tracking the internal source of hacking to prevent information leaks.

In the local category, selected ideas included the establishment of a local multi-cultural space by combining literature (independent bookstores) and traditional liquor (breweries) to support regional independent bookstores, as well as vacuum repacking of agricultural and marine products from traditional markets to help increase sales at traditional marketplaces.

Han Seong-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "The successful candidates born from this expedited review will become the first guiding lights for the long journey of 'Startup for All.' Until the application deadline, expedited reviews will continue at each institution, and we will focus the nation's efforts through the platform to infuse innovation into 'Startup for All.'"

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