The Gyeongbuk Center for Creative Economy and Innovation announced that it has been selected as the lead organization for the "2026 Local Startup Fostering Project" in the Greater-Gyeonggi region, promoted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small Business Market Promotion Agency. This project will be run as a consortium, with the Gyeongbuk Center for Creative Economy and Innovation leading the project and the Daegu Center for Creative Economy and Innovation participating as a partner organization.
The Local Startup Business Incubation Program is a government-funded initiative that identifies local small business owners and provides them with step-by-step support, including incubation, mentoring, and market and investment connections. The program aims to establish a one-stop growth support system that systematically fosters entrepreneurial small business owners by linking the New Business Startup Academy (startup stage), the Local Creator Development Program (early stage), and the Strong Small Business Growth Support Program (growth stage). With this selection, the Gyeongbuk Center for Creative Economy and Innovation will serve as a hub for the local startup ecosystem in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk region.
The Gyeongbuk Center for Creative Economy and Innovation will play a central role as the leading organization in the local startup ecosystem in the Greater-Gyeonggi region. Working with the Daegu Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, the center plans to discover and nurture promising local startups within the region. Specifically, the center will utilize the Daegu Local Startup Town and its Andong branch to operate specialized programs such as networking, mentoring, and pitching, fostering exchange and collaboration among entrepreneurs.
The Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center received the highest rating in the 2025 Local Creator Development Project performance evaluation. Local creator companies in the Yeongnam region it fostered in 2025 achieved a total of approximately KRW 18.2 billion in sales and KRW 220 million in exports. Furthermore, at the "Glocal Festa Local Creator Pitching Contest," supported companies Bybee Co., Ltd. and Seolarae received the Grand Prize and Excellence Award, respectively.
Yoo Joo-hyun, CEO of the Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center, announced that in line with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' LYCON fostering initiative, the center will provide step-by-step support for promising local startups in the Greater-Gyeonggi region and collaborate with the Daegu Creative Economy Innovation Center to build a one-stop local startup ecosystem. He added that the center will focus on fostering leading LYCON companies that will lead the global market, based on local startup towns.
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