Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center (CEO Yongwoo Kim, hereinafter referred to as Busan Creative Economy) announced that it is recruiting companies to participate in the 'Self-Project-Prep Vietnam' targeting non-metropolitan technology-based startups that wish to enter the Southeast Asian market including Vietnam. The recruitment period is until May 1, and a total of about 20 companies are planned to be selected.
The project itself is a global accelerating program that started as a pilot project in 2024 and transitioned to a full-scale project in 2025. It is hosted by the Busan Small and Medium Venture Business Administration and Korea Southern Power and organized by Busan Changgyeong. This year, it has been strengthened in various ways to create more tangible results, such as participating in the 'InnoEX 2025' Vietnam exhibition, and the number of participating companies has also increased significantly from 15 to 20 companies compared to the previous year.
Last year, through local IR pitching and meetups, 4 product and service exports, 4 MOUs, and over 30 collaboration discussions took place, and many participating companies said, “We were able to gain market insights through local networking, IR pitching, and mentoring, and it was a real help in preparing for global expansion.” This year, reflecting these results and feedback, we have upgraded our business with a full-cycle customized support system from pre-education to local expansion, post-investment linkage, and performance sharing meetings.
The selected companies will participate in a step-by-step program including ▲global capacity building training ▲preliminary mentoring and consulting ▲participation in the 'InnoEX' exhibition ▲IR pitching and meetup ▲investment linkage, and will also be provided with practical support such as Startup Wheel international track document exemption benefits, airfare (up to 450,000 won), and support for producing promotional materials.
Additionally, additional points will be awarded to companies that have been selected for the SMEs and Startups Ministry's startup support project or whose headquarters are located in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region.
Startups wishing to participate in the program can check the details on the Busan Changgyeong website announcement and submit application documents by email.
Busan Changgyeong CEO Yongwoo Kim said, “This year’s Self-Project-Prep Vietnam is a program that goes beyond short-term overseas expansion support to help startups settle into the global market through step-by-step support from pre-education to local expansion and post-expansion linkage.” He added, “Based on the Busan region’s public cooperation system, we will actively support startups outside the metropolitan area to enter the Southeast Asian market, create sustainable follow-up results, and contribute to establishing a global cooperation model.”
Meanwhile, 'InnoEX 2025' is the largest technology and startup exhibition in Southeast Asia held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and is an international event with over 260 companies from around the world participating and over 30,000 visitors. This year, 'Self-Project Prep Vietnam' will participate by forming a joint pavilion consisting of 20 non-metropolitan startups and will focus on locally showcasing the global competitiveness and export potential of technology-based startups.
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