In this tough time of pandemic a great opportunity for the startups arises with K-Startup Grand Challenge 2021. KSGC 2021 is a global startup acceleration program which is organized and financially backed by Korean Government, MSS (Ministry of SMEs & Startups, South Korea) and NIPA (National IT Industry Promotion Agency).
South Korean startup ecosystem is gaining great traction despite of Covid-19 pandemic in the year 2021.
Notable funding which took place recently:
Sendbird, Korean Chat API startup raised $100 million in Series C funding making their valuation to staggering $1.05 billion. This makes the startup one of the 12 unicorn startups based in South Korea.
Coupang, South Korea’s largest e-commerce company has raised $4.6 billion in the biggest US IPO(Initial Public Offering) this year.
In the year 2021, as many as 34 companies have applied for the KRX (Korea Exchange) for IPOs. These include majority of tech startups.
This is a great initiative by South Korean Government to attract global startups to set up operations in South Korea. They want to grow their tech ecosystem and digital economy by making it easier for startups from abroad to expand in South Korea.
Startups from all around the globe are now able to apply to K-Startup Challenge 2021.
Key Features of K-Startup Grand Challenge 2021
Amazing Opportunity for startups to expand into South Korean and wider Asian Markets.
KSGC 2021 will be offering 60 teams and entrepreneurs an all expenses paid, 3.5 month residency program in South Korea. It will include access to co-working spaces, expert guidance, state-of-art R&D labs, corporate partnerships, entry into Asian market and much more.
Program will be hosted at startup campus in Pangyo Techno Valley, a tech hub near Seoul.
First placed team will receive grant worth $120,000.
Top 10 chosen startups will also win grants worth $320,000.
Application Criteria: Startups must be less than 7 years old and their representative must be of foreign nationality. They must be having interest in expanding into Korean and East Asian markets.
This program was first launched in 2016 which aimed the promoting expansion of an open entrepreneurship ecosystem in Asia and help South Korea’s evolution as a prominent business and startup hub in the region.
Last year in 2020 even due to the pandemic, the program received 58% surge in applications with 2,648 teams applying from 118 countries.
Ommo Technologies, Texas based health tech startup had spread its reach into the Asian markets with participation in the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2020 program. Since joining the program, the startup raised US $3 million led by Korean investors.
This is a great opportunity for foreign startups who are looking forward to expand in South Korea and Asian markets.
Apply Now!
Nikhil Narkhede
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