South Korea Launches Accelerator Program for International Startups

The Global Startup Campus ,Pangyo, South Korea

South Korea’s government has created an accelerator for startups around the world tagged ‘‘K-Startup Grand Challenge’, in an effort to make the Asian country’s  IT  industry more diverse.

The program being organised by South Korea’sMinistry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), in partnership with Seoul-based accelerators SparkLabs, DEV Korea, ActnerLab, and Shift,  will accept applications through June 14 .

With the intention to make this program an annual event, MSIP Director, Dr. Chang-yong Ahn said that this is the first time the government which pledged $2 billion (N400) per year since 2013 to the local startup ecosystem has directly supported foreign startups. By so doing, the government wants encourage more companies to set up in the country.

According to him, “Most innovation is borne from diversity just look at Silicon Valley. At this stage the startup and business ecosystem in Korea lacks a high level of diversity and the K-Startup Grand Challenge is one step towards creating a more diverse business environment in Korea.

Forty startups will be selected to participate in the three-month long program, which begins in September and includes mentoring from 15 leading Korean tech companies, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Kakao, and Naver.

A demo day will take place in December, after which twenty startups will receive $33,000(N6.6m) in funding from the government, with the top four getting an additional $6,000(N1.2m) to $100,000(N20m).

All companies will work out of the Pangyo Global Startup Campus, which was opened earlier this year by the government as part of a new startup hub.

The program is accepting applications from companies in all industries with growth potential, but it is particularly focused on gaming, finance, bio-tech, software, and information and communication tech.

“We would love to see some of the companies incorporate in Korea, leading to the creation of jobs and development of Korea as a regional technology and startup hub,” Ahn said.