The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced that it will recruit companies to participate in the '25-Year Strong Small Business Growth Support Project' from January 24 to February 27 to support small business owners who pioneer new business areas with creative ideas.
The Strong Small Business Growth Support Project is a project that supports small business owners to grow into entrepreneurial small business owners by developing differentiated products and services through collaboration with partner companies such as creators, startups, and small business owners in different industries.
In 2023, 4,355 companies applied, showing a competition rate of 41.5:1 based on the companies selected in the first audition (105 companies). In 2024, 9,137 companies applied, showing a competition rate of 43.5:1 based on the companies selected in the first audition (210 companies), showing great interest from creative small business owners.
'In 25 years, we will improve our business by increasing the number of people selected and simplifying the selection process to keep up with the high demand from small business owners.
First, we plan to expand the scale of support for companies selected through the first audition from 210 to 220 companies, and change the type of century-old store/small business to the ‘long-lived small business owner’ type so that we can discover excellent small business owners with long-term experience and know-how even if they have not received century-old store/small business owner certification, and support them so that they can survive and grow for a long time.
This recruitment notice is for the recruitment of small business owners in Track I (Lifestyle, Local Brand, Long-lived Small Business Owners) of the Strong Small Business Owner Growth Support Project type, and we plan to separately announce the online seller and global types in February.
Second, we plan to simplify the idea selection process from the existing two-step document and presentation evaluation to a comprehensive evaluation, thereby providing a wider period for small business owners to build teams, prepare for the first audition, and use business funds.
As the main business organizations, many capable small business incubation organizations such as Sejong Creative Economy Innovation Center, Small Business Hope Foundation, and Jeju Creative Economy Innovation Center will participate. In addition to business operations, they will also provide various follow-up support such as incubation space, networking, and direct/indirect investment to participating companies by utilizing the human and material base (infrastructure) owned by each organization.
In addition, it is linked to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Youth Village Creation Project and the Living Area Unit Local Branding Activation Support Project, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Cultural City Support Project, and the Korean Intellectual Property Office's Comprehensive Support Project for Intellectual Property (IP) Creation, to support promising small business owners to grow beyond the domestic market and into the global market.
Lee Dae-geon, the director of the Small Business Policy Bureau, said, “With the recent popularity of Korean Wave content, the popularity of Korean small businesses that supply a variety of creative consumer goods such as beauty, food, fashion, and daily necessities is increasing.” He emphasized, “We will foster small businesses as innovative companies that create new lifestyles by instilling entrepreneurship and creativity in them, and make them a new growth engine for the Republic of Korea.”
Detailed information on business applications can be found on the official website of the Small Business Market Promotion Agency or on ‘Small Business 24’ from January 24 to February 27, and applications can be submitted on Small Business 24 from February 10 to 27.
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