'Startup for All' Draws Participants from Ages 9 to 90 Across All Generations

Record-Breaking 62,944 Apply for Government Startup and Idea Contest
68% of Applicants Are Youths Under 39; 53.4% from Outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on May 19 that a total of 62,944 people (51,907 for the general/technology track and 11,037 for the local track) applied for the "Startup for All Project." This is the largest number of applicants ever recorded for a government startup and idea contest hosted by a government ministry.

The application period for the Startup for All Project ran from March 26 to May 15. As of the deadline, the official platform had recorded a cumulative 1,418,600 visitors. The number of sign-ups reached 135,036. On average, 19.5 people accessed the platform every minute, and 1.9 people signed up per minute.

This year’s Startup for All Project saw particularly strong participation from the youth. Of all applicants, 42,798 were challengers aged 39 or younger, accounting for 68% of the total. Participants ranged from the youngest at 9 years old to the oldest at 90, reflecting a well-balanced age distribution. There were also 540 foreign applicants.

Regional interest in startups was also evident. Of the total applicants, 33,628 (53.4%) were from outside the Seoul metropolitan area, surpassing half for the first time. This figure is 23.4 percentage points higher than the proportion of non-metropolitan applicants (30.0%) in this year’s preliminary startup package. By track, the proportion of non-metropolitan applicants was 50% for the general/technology track and 69.4% for the local track.

By field, the IT sector had the highest number of applicants in the general/technology track with 14,728 (28.4%), followed by lifestyle with 11,360 (21.9%), and education with 4,077 (7.9%). In the local track, the lifestyle sector was the most popular with 7,069 applicants (64.1%), followed by food and beverage (F&B) with 2,992 (27.1%).

The spread of artificial intelligence (AI) across all industries was also apparent. In the general/technology track, a total of 15,339 ideas included the keyword "AI," accounting for 29.6% of all ideas. A keyword analysis of single-line idea summaries also found "AI" to be the most common keyword in the general/technology track, appearing in 11,500 cases (42.2%).

Further analysis of the single-line idea keywords showed that the general/technology track most frequently mentioned "AI" (38%), "automation" (9.3%), and "data" (8.1%). In the local track, the most common keywords were "brand" (11.1%), "space" (8.1%), and "tourism" (6.8%).

The Startup for All Project also contributed to improving public perceptions of entrepreneurship. According to a perception survey of the challengers, the negative view that "starting a business is a high-barrier challenge" dropped from 64% before learning about the Startup for All Project to 33.1% afterward, a decrease of 30.9 percentage points. Meanwhile, the willingness to take on the challenge of starting a business increased from 67.2% to 89.5%, a rise of 22.3 percentage points.

The approximately 60,000 ideas submitted will be validated by mentoring institutions nationwide, and 5,000 startup talents will be selected in June. The selected talents will receive systematic support, including AI solutions, graphics processing units (GPUs), and regulatory screening (pre-checks on regulatory matters) to help them grow as entrepreneurs.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups also plans to promote a second Startup for All Project, reflecting feedback from young people gathered during the project’s campus tour. Based on feedback such as "support for re-challenging after failure" and "expanding networking with senior entrepreneurs," which were commonly raised during the campus tour, the ministry will provide "re-challenge mentoring" to those not selected among the 5,000, and will expand networking opportunities through special lectures by senior entrepreneurs in each region.

Han Seong-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "The 62,000 challenges gathered through this Startup for All Project are direct evidence of the enthusiasm for the national startup era. We will provide full support, including AI solutions and regulatory screening, for the selected ideas, and also offer re-challenge mentoring to the 57,000 challengers who were not selected to firmly establish a foundation for re-challenge."

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