Selected 40 Outstanding Teams from the Republic of Korea Startup League, to Compete for Top Honors in the Main Tournament
Published2017.07.13 16:05The "Republic of Korea Startup League," which aims to nurture excellent entrepreneurs and expand the startup ecosystem through domestic startup competitions, has concluded its regional league and selected the final 40 teams to compete in "Challenge! K-Startup 2017."
The Small and Medium Business Administration (Administrator Joo Young-seop) and the Startup Promotion Agency (Director Kang Si-woo) conducted pitching competitions with 126 teams over two days from July 12 to 13, and selected the final 40 startup teams that overcame fierce competition at a ratio of 40-to-1. They have also completed preparation for "Challenge! K-Startup 2017," in which four government ministries (Small and Medium Business Administration, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Defense) will conduct a joint competition.
In the Republic of Korea Startup League, a total of 1,599 teams applied starting from last March (1,140 teams for regional league, 459 teams for platform-specific league). The competition was held with regional startup leagues divided across five zones nationwide, and through platform-specific special leagues including the TIPS (Technology Innovation Program for Startup) program, Young Entrepreneur Military Academy, and Startup-leading Universities, as well as the pharmaceutical and biotech competition promoted by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and "Visiting Investment IR" in which Administrator Joo Young-seop directly participated as a judge, a total of 126 excellent entrepreneurs were selected.
The 126 teams that advanced through the regional league and platform-specific leagues underwent Silicon Valley-style pitching competitions consisting of 3-minute presentations and 3-minute Q&A sessions based on their capabilities, technological feasibility, and business viability, resulting in the selection of the final 40 teams.
In particular, on the 13th, Administrator Joo Young-seop of the Small and Medium Business Administration visited the pitching competition site directly to encourage participants, and held a luncheon meeting with a judging panel composed of veteran venture capitalists and professional investors to hear industry requests for fostering a technology startup boom and cultivating star ventures.
Administrator Joo Young-seop stated in his remarks at the luncheon meeting, "The role of evaluation committee members (VCs and angel investors) in supporting entrepreneurs and accelerating company growth is very important, and I hope that the startup teams selected by your hands will grow into Korean unicorn companies."
Meanwhile, the Small and Medium Business Administration plans to hold a "Final Pitching" competition on the 26th of this month at TIPS Town for the top 16 teams among the final 40 teams, select the top 8 teams, and award a total of 6.8 billion won in prize money and certificates while encouraging their innovation efforts.
Challenge! K-Startup 2017 will have total prize money of 580 million won and will begin full-fledged competition from September. A total of 100 startup companies (40 from Small and Medium Business Administration, 40 from Ministry of Science and ICT, 10 from Ministry of Education, 10 from Ministry of Defense) will compete in the main tournament, and the competition will be narrowed down to a total of 10 teams, with the final rankings determined at the championship tournament to be held at the end of November.
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