The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced on the 29th that in order to support the global expansion of domestic AI startups, it will be piloting an 'AI Specialized Global Acceleration Program' centered on the U.S. market, which has world-class technology demand, capital, and talent, and selected a total of 8 companies.
The 'AI Specialized Global Acceleration Program' is a project that supports the overseas expansion and growth of promising AI startups by providing customized overseas local acceleration programs, as well as global expansion funds necessary for local commercialization, market verification, and networking. It was prepared as part of the 'Global Acceleration Support Project' that promotes customized overseas expansion support by industry and field for startups, reflecting the high demand from AI companies for localization support and overseas expansion consulting.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been working hard to support AI startups through various support projects such as TIPS, the Ultra-Gap Startup 1,000+ Project, Startup Leap Package, and the OpenAI Collaboration Project. In particular, TIPS and the Ultra-Gap Startup 1,000+ Project, which are representative startup programs in Korea, are the cradles of the birth of AI startups, and the supported companies have achieved outstanding results such as winning domestic and international awards such as the CES Innovation Award, Edison Awards, and Industrial Medals, as well as becoming unicorn companies, listing with special technology treatment, and attracting investment.
Recently, four domestic AI startups, including NotaAI Co., Ltd., Dinoticia Co., Ltd., Upstage Co., Ltd., and Twelve Labs Co., Ltd., were selected for the 'AI 100 2025' (Global AI 100 Companies) by CB Insights, one of the most authoritative corporate evaluation agencies in the global AI market, and also received the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' key startup support policies, such as the 'Ultra-Gap Startup 1000+ Project'.
These achievements show that for investment in future technologies such as AI to be successful, it must not only be about developing the technology but also about the commercial success of the company. Therefore, for commercial success of AI startups, it is essential to enter overseas markets that are ahead in many aspects such as market size and venture investment amount and lead global technology trends.
Accordingly, this business has organized customized programs such as ▲ AI solution verification and advancement, ▲ overseas buyer and VC matching, and ▲ product and service localization consulting in collaboration with local accelerators and global companies, to provide practical assistance to domestic AI startups in entering the global market.
A total of 54 companies applied for the 8 positions, recording a high competition rate of 6.75:1. After document and presentation evaluations, 8 AI startups with innovation and global growth potential were selected.
It is expected that this project will enable domestic artificial intelligence (AI) startups to secure overseas customers and investors early on and further serve as a turning point for global scale-up.
Kyung-won Cho, the Director of Startup Policy, said, “In order to secure leadership in the global AI market, where competition between countries has recently become more intense, it is important to increase the global competitiveness of excellent domestic AI startups. In the future, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively support the growth of AI startups through comprehensive support from technology development (R&D) to human resources, funds, sales channels, and overseas expansion.”
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