The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it will recruit organizers for the Maker Space Consortium with the capacity to support makers from January 16 to February 13 in order to expand the maker base and promote startups.

There are currently about 200 makerspaces operating nationwide, and they support prototype production centered on 'casual startups' that can be easily challenged with low costs and burdens based on ideas among manufacturing startups that utilize manufacturing equipment such as 3D printers and laser cutters.

The collaborative makerspaces selected this time will consist of three organizations as one team, and will operate collaborative programs that utilize each organization's strengths, such as quality maker education, prototype production, and productization, to foster casual entrepreneurs. They will receive up to 600 million won in annual business operating expenses.

Eun-ju Park, head of the Startup Ecosystem Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The collaborative research lab project is a project to efficiently support manufacturing entrepreneurs by utilizing the capabilities of maker spaces that have expertise in prototype production and business operation experience,” adding, “We will continue to work to revitalize the casual startup ecosystem so that local entrepreneurs with innovative ideas can easily jump into starting a business, centered around open manufacturing labs (maker spaces).”

Meanwhile, all collaborative leading institutions can participate, including institutions that have been selected for the '18-'19 Maker Activation Support Project and whose agreement period has ended, or institutions (companies) with manufacturing startup support capabilities. Detailed information can be found in the business announcement on the website of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups or the K-Startup website.