K-Startup Grand Challenge

K-Startup Grand Challenge
K-스타트업 그랜드 챌린지
Formation 2016 (2016)
Type Governmental organization
Purpose Start-up support
Location
Parent organization
 National IT Industry Promotion Agency
Website https://www.k-startupgc.org/

K-Startup Grand Challenge is a startup accelerator program supported by the Government of South Korea.[1][2] The program was launched in 2016 by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) and funded by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of South Korea.[3] The program is based in the Pangyo Techno Valley, known as the Korean version of the Silicon Valley.[4]

History

As part of the government's "Creative Economy" policy, South Korea has initiated a wide range of support programs for startups, and has been investing nearly $2 billion annually into the Korean start-up ecosystem since 2013.[4] Within the scope of these efforts, the government organized the K-Startup Grand Challenge program to invite foreign start-ups to come to Korea and cooperate with local VCs and companies.[5]

Program Contents

The selection process is composed of three rounds:

  • worldwide application usually runs for several months. In 2016, 2,439 startups applied from 124 countries.[6] In 2017, 1,515 startups applied from 118 countries.[7]
  • global auditions to select 80-100 teams for interview and in-depth review by invited judges.
  • final selection of 40-50 teams for participation in the program.[8]

The selected startups receive a three-month support program that comprises financial support, visa and incorporation support, as well as matchmaking with Korean tech companies, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Kakao, Naver, POSCO, KT, and others.[9] The acceleration program culminates with a Demo Day, after which half of startups receive additional $33,000 in funding from the government, with the top four getting a prize of $6,000 to $100,000.[10]

Program Rounds

K-Startup Grand Challenge 2016

40 startups were selected for the first round.

K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017

In 2017, the program was expanded by 50 teams invited to Korea. The program provided the following financial support:[11]

  • round trip flight tickets for two team members.
  • ₩14,000,000 to cover the living expenses during four months from August to November.
  • Demo Day grants of ₩120,000,000 (1st place), ₩48,000,000 (2nd place), ₩24,000,000 (3rd place) and ₩7,200,000 (4th place).
  • A total of ₩32,000,000 settlement support for each of the Top 25 teams from January to June.

K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018

In 2018, the program was expanded again. 80 teams invited to Korea.

Participating startups

K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017[12]

  • AID:Tech, Ireland
  • Aerostate, USA
  • Agorize Asia, France
  • Altagram GmbH, Germany
  • Bear Robotics Inc., USA
  • Bildeco, Indonesia
  • BlockSchool, USA
  • Briefy, Germany
  • Box24, Thailand
  • Cards Corp., Ukraine
  • COOLFARM, Portugal
  • Crowdz, USA
  • Dinlr, Singapore (Food Tech, Restaurant Tech) — Dinlr helps F&B businesses to better manage and operate their business using front-of-house solutions designed for F&B industry.[13]
  • Dream Agility, England - UK’s leading ad tech firm which specialises in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to deliver excellent PPC advertising performance.[14]
  • E Cycle, Hong Kong
  • Electroni Nose Co., Thailand
  • Futurehome AS, Norway
  • Jarvis Store, Indonesia
  • Jugnoo, India
  • Happy Skin Vietnam, Vietnam
  • Hatchme Pte Ltd, Singapore
  • Hauzd, Panama
  • HeySuccess Limited, England
  • igloohome, Singapore
  • Is it fresh, Germany
  • Kaitek Labs, Chile
  • Loka Travel Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
  • Marine Nexus Pte Ltd, Singapore
  • Mishipay Ltd., England
  • Mycroft AI, USA
  • Nanoclean Global Pvt, India
  • Overnest, USA
  • OWLR Technologies Ltd., England
  • Photomyne LTD., Israel
  • Polywed, Russia (Healthcare IT) — data-driven technology that increases in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates.[15]
  • Preply Inc., USA
  • Printify Inc., USA
  • Rezi, USA
  • Shift Technology, France
  • Slasify, Singapore
  • SmartPeep, Malaysia
  • Softinn Solutions, Malaysia
  • Toolyt Vahmine Tech, India
  • TotalCross, Brazil
  • Transformify, England
  • UAV-IQ LLC, USA
  • Warrantyzen, Malaysia
  • Waldania Automation, Malaysia
  • Whitney Technology, USA
  • Womi Technology Co., Vietnam
  • ZhenHub, Hong Kong

K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018[16]

  • Advantir Innovations, Singapore
  • Ami, Vietnam

References

  1. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  2. ↑ "K-Startup Grand Challenge | Crunchbase". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  3. ↑ Ramirez, Elaine. "Why Entrepreneurs Come To South Korea - And Why They Don't". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  4. 1 2 "K-Startup Grand Challenge - KIC Europe". KIC Europe. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  5. ↑ "S.Korea launches K-Startup Grand Challenge for global start-ups - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  6. ↑ 신선미 (2016-06-19). "K-Startup 그랜드 챌린지 심사 시작". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  7. ↑ 2017, K-STARTUP GRAND CHALLENGE. "K-STARTUP GRAND CHALLENGE 2017". www.k-startupgc.org. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  8. ↑ "[비즈스토리] 'K-스타트업 그랜드 챌린지' 안착 … 혁신창업 인재육성으로 경제성장 이끈다". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 2017-11-22. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  9. ↑ Shu, Catherine. "South Korea's government launches its first accelerator program for international startups". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  10. ↑ "Korea's K-Startup Grand Challenge seeks 50 global startups". Digital News Asia. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  11. ↑ 2017, K-STARTUP GRAND CHALLENGE. "K-STARTUP GRAND CHALLENGE 2017". www.k-startupgc.org. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  12. ↑ "K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017 Selected Top 49 teams". 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  13. ↑ "Dinlr". www.dinlr.com. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
  14. ↑ "Dream Agility". www.dreamagility.com.
  15. ↑ "Polywed". polywed.com. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
  16. ↑ "K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018 Selected Top 80 teams". Retrieved 2018-08-12.
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