The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as the MSS) announced on the 18th that it will be fully operating the 'Build up Strategy for Startups (BuS) program (hereinafter referred to as Startup-BuS)' this year.
Startup-BuS is a program that the Creative Economy Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as the “Changgyeong Center”) first launched in May of last year to provide rapid and consistent support from initial investment to follow-up investment for promising local deep-tech startups.
Startup-BuS, which was piloted in five startup centers (Gyeonggi, Incheon, Chungbuk, Ulsan, and Gwangju) last year, is scheduled to be expanded to a total of eight centers this year by adding three new centers (Gangwon, Gyeongnam, and Jeju).
In order for local startups to receive Startup-BuS support, they must participate in mini-pitching days held at each Changgyeong Center every week, just like last year.
Startup-BuS aims to discover promising local startups and provide rapid support through seed investment within 3 months, TIPS within 6 months, and follow-up investment within 12 months.
Last year, 406 companies were discovered in 5 centers, and 110 of them successfully attracted direct and indirect investments worth about 29.6 billion won. Artblood Co., Ltd., which participated in the Chungbuk Center program, was recognized for the technological prowess of its business item developing red blood cells for blood reagents, and attracted a total of 6.5 billion won in investments based on cumulative investments by the end of 2024, including 4 billion won in the Series-A stage.
In April, July, and September of this year, eight Changgyeong Centers will hold joint investment briefing sessions to introduce startups selected and fostered in the region through Startup-BuS to domestic and foreign investors. It is expected that through this joint venue where investment professionals can participate, opportunities for promising local startups to receive support for follow-up investments will increase.
In addition, it was announced that the '2025 Specialized Startup Package Project', which supports the growth of non-metropolitan startups with promising startup items this year, will be piloted.
The target of support is a (potential) start-up company in a new industry with less than 10 years of experience located outside the metropolitan area. Depending on the company's investment stage, it will receive customized support in the form of commercialization funds and start-up programs.
A total of approximately 70 companies will be selected through two tracks: ‘general recruitment’ and ‘regional creative center recommendation’, and applications for general recruitment will be accepted from February 19 to March 7 on the K-Startup website.
In particular, this business is differentiated from existing startup package businesses in that it categorizes recruits from Series 1 to Series 3 based on the investment stage rather than the startup's business history and provides customized programs.
The specialized startup package will be led by the Chungnam and Jeonnam Changgyeong Center, and will provide support in conjunction with large and medium-sized enterprises related to specialized industries in the region. The Chungnam Center plans to focus on fostering startups in the climate tech sector in conjunction with SK Ecoplant, while the Jeonnam Center plans on fostering startups in the energy sector in conjunction with GS, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and others.
Kyung-won Cho, Director of Startup Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The Startup-BuS program, which constantly discovers and quickly fosters startups centered on regional startup centers, was well established last year, and we plan to expand it further this year,” adding, “We will actively support the continuous growth of regional startups with the Startup-BuS and specialized startup packages as two major axes.”
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