President Lee Praises 'Everyone's Startup' as Applications Surpass 62,000

Over 60,000 Applications in 50 Days Since Platform Launch on March 26
President Lee Jaemyung Encourages: "The Path to a Truly Startup-Centered Nation Has Opened"
Minister Han Sungsook: "Final Results to Be Announced by Mid-June, Feedback and Mentori

The final results for applications to "Everyone's Startup" have surpassed expectations, with the number of applicants exceeding 60,000. The project successfully lowered the barrier to entry, allowing individuals to pursue entrepreneurship based solely on their ideas, and established a nurturing system that cultivates entrepreneurs through incubation. This has encouraged participation from a wide range of demographics, from young people to older individuals seeking a second chance. President Lee Jaemyung also praised the results, stating that "the path to becoming a truly startup-centric nation is opening up."

Results of the First Round of Everyone's Startup. Han Sung-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups X

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on May 17, a total of 62,944 people applied for the Everyone's Startup project when applications closed. Applications opened on March 26 and were initially scheduled to close at 4 PM on the 15th, but due to a surge in last-minute traffic, the Ministry extended the deadline by four hours.

On May 15, Han Sung-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated on X (formerly Twitter), "Over 60,000 people took on the challenge over the past 50 days. We will carefully review all submitted ideas and announce the final selections by mid-June. Selected ideas will receive support such as AI solutions, one-on-one mentoring, and regulatory screening."

Minister Han also said, "For the approximately 57,000 participants who unfortunately did not make it this time, we will provide idea feedback and mentoring. Not only will we support the successful applicants, but we will also help unsuccessful applicants chart a path for another try—this is a key part of the Everyone's Startup project. We will ensure that these 60,000 challenges take root and create a forest of innovation in Korea." President Lee also mentioned the first round results on X, saying, "I look forward to the second, third, and even more rounds."

Hansung Sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, delivers a greeting at the "2026 Everyone's Startup Campus Tour Talk Concert" held at Chung-Ang University in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the 13th. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Everyone's Startup is a startup talent development platform, one of the key agendas of the national startup era, in which the government invests in people. Anyone can apply as long as they have an idea, and the program nurtures them into startup founders by connecting them with accelerators, universities, and experienced entrepreneurs. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected more than 100 incubation organizations and about 500 mentors who are veteran entrepreneurs.

From the first round of applicants, the Ministry plans to select 4,000 individuals for the general and technology tracks, and 1,000 for the local track, totaling 5,000 participants. The selected entrepreneurs will receive 2 million won in startup activity funds. They will then proceed through regional auditions, inter-regional auditions, and a national contest. The final winner will be awarded 500 million won in prize money and receive additional support worth up to 1 billion won, including follow-up investment opportunities.

Analysis of the application data shows that 68% of the participants were young people in their 20s and 30s, while 32% were middle-aged or older. By gender, 59.3% were male and 40.7% were female. Regionally, 53.4% of applicants were from outside the greater Seoul area. By application field, the general and technology tracks saw the most applicants in IT (14,728), followed by lifestyle (11,360), others (4,876), education (4,077), and bio/medical (2,996).

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has made the application status, ideas, and expedited review results publicly available on the Everyone's Startup platform. Minister Han is known to have been deeply involved in the planning process, holding multiple meetings with staff from the project preparation stage through platform design.

While the Ministry leads the Everyone's Startup project, most of the incubation process has been delegated to the private sector. Private incubation organizations are responsible for discovering entrepreneurs, while experienced entrepreneurs are matched as mentors according to each growth stage. The incubation organizations are responsible for nurturing participants from the initial 5,000 all the way to the national final audition. The mentor group includes startup leaders such as Lee Seung-gun of Toss, Kim Han-yi of Binulabs, Lee Seyoung of RYUTEN, and Park Sunghyun of Rebellion.

Competition has also been encouraged among incubation organizations. The status of each organization selected by applicants was disclosed in real-time during the application period. Due to a higher-than-expected number of applicants, the maximum number of incubatees per organization was originally set at 800 but was later increased to 1,200. As a result of the first application round, a total of 1,200 applicants registered with each of the seven organizations, including CNT Tech, Primer, SparkLabs, the Seoul and Gyeonggi Centers for Creative Economy & Innovation, Hannam University, and Hoseo University. In addition, incentives will be provided to incubation organizations based on the stage-by-stage achievements of the entrepreneurs they nurture.

The Ministry plans to begin accepting applications for the second cohort of Everyone's Startup as early as the end of next month, utilizing the 200 billion won secured through the supplementary budget. Minister Han emphasized, "For those who could not participate this time, we will prepare and release a larger and more refined second cohort of Everyone's Startup. We will ensure the selection of the first cohort is completed, facilitate connections with veteran founders, build an investor database, conduct regulatory reviews, and thoroughly prepare for the second cohort without delay."

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