The K-Startup Grand Challenge is a project conducted and financed by the Korean government. The ultimate objectives of the K-Startup Grand Challenge are to promote the expansion of an open entrepreneurship ecosystem in Asia and to assist South Korea’s evolution into a prominent startup business hub in the region.
Participation in the K-Startup Grand Challenge acceleration program will help your business meet all of these demands so that you can start making your global startup dreams a reality.
About the Challenge:
The driving idea behind this project is to endorse the inflow of promising foreign startups interested in the Korean or the broader Asian market through a global startup acceleration programme followed by a Domestic Settlement Programme.
Eligibility:
If you can answer in the affirmative to the questions below, then this Challenge for you:
- Are you an early-stage startup or a scale-up?
- Are you looking to expand into Asia?
- Do you have a disruptive innovation in the IoT, software, smart devices, cloud, 5G or big data sectors?
Benefits:
This project gives startups the opportunity:
- To expand into the Asian market through Korea, thereby using this country as a foothold for their international cooperation in Asia
- To be exposed to large Korean corporations such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG or SK, etc.
- To receive mentoring and financial support in order to grow their business in Asia
Selection Criteria
- The top-ranked 80 teams selected by the Accelerating will be invited to stay in Korea to participate three months and a half accelerating program in Pangyo, located south of Seoul.
- At the end of the Accelerating program, the government will host a demo day to select the top 40 startups from the program.
- There will get additional financial incentives, and if they choose to establish their businesses in Korea, they will get enormous additional support from the government.
Timeline:
This is subject to change.
- Reception of applications (May-June)
- Application review (June)
- Global auditions (June -July)
- Acceleration program (August-November)
- Demo day (December)
How to Apply:
Application Deadline:
June 14, 2018.