The Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center announced on the 20th that it has begun recruiting participating companies for the '2025 Next G-Star Round' program, which supports the discovery and growth of promising startups.
This program aims to promote the creation of a regional startup and investment ecosystem by providing customized investment attraction opportunities tailored to the growth stage of startups and strengthening strategic ties with investment institutions.
The recruitment period is from May 8 to June 8, 2025, and any startup company that needs investment, regardless of region or industry experience, including companies preparing for Series A round or higher, can apply. However, companies that do not have a previous investment history from the Korea Development Bank and have won the 'Grand Prize' in the previous 'Next G-Star Round' competition are excluded from participation.
In particular, this year’s program will focus on the ‘10 super gap fields’ designated by the government. The recruitment fields include industries with technological competitiveness such as ▲bio/health ▲eco-friendliness/energy ▲robots ▲aerospace ▲system semiconductors ▲future mobility ▲AI/big data ▲cybersecurity ▲next-generation nuclear power plants ▲quantum technology.
The selected companies will go through online preliminary rounds by sector from June to August, and only those companies that pass the preliminary round will be given the opportunity to pitch IR in the final round in September. Companies that advance to the final round will be supported with up to 3 million won in commercialization funds, and direct and indirect investment review and follow-up investment linkage by the Industrial Bank of Korea will also be conducted.
This program is jointly hosted by the Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center, Daegu Creative Economy Innovation Center, Daegu University Startup Support Group, and Korea Angel Investment Association (Dae-Gyeonggi Angel Investment Hub), with the Korea Industrial Bank of Korea cooperating as a participating organization. Through this, operation with enhanced expertise and effectiveness is expected.
Lee Moon-rak, head of the Gyeongbuk Creative Economy Innovation Center, said, “The Next G-Star Round is the optimal platform for startups to advance their businesses and attract actual investment beyond a simple competition,” adding, “We will continue to actively support promising startups with ultra-gap technologies so that they can grow into next-generation unicorns.”
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