Korea Business Lobby to Nurture 100 Startup Teams With Investment, Corporate Ties

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) is launching a public startup project that will select 100 teams of aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs and support them from mentoring through to matching them with investors.

Marking its 65th anniversary, the FKI said on the 9th that it is pursuing the "Plus Startup" project to energize a private-sector-led startup ecosystem. The initiative goes a step beyond the group's existing entrepreneurship programs by expanding its scope to identifying and nurturing founders and providing investment support.

Applications are open to aspiring founders and startups that have been in business for seven years or less. In emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, bio and healthcare, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and climate and energy, companies operating for up to 10 years may also apply.

A total of 100 teams will be selected, including 30 teams of aspiring founders and 70 early-stage startups. The selected teams will receive a customized 12-week startup program. Aspiring founders will be supported with commercialization training and help setting up a company, while early-stage entrepreneurs will receive step-by-step support for attracting investment and upgrading their investor relations (IR) presentations.

The benefits span multiple areas. They include one-on-one consulting from former executives of large corporations, as well as support for proof-of-concept (PoC) testing that verifies whether a startup idea can be commercialized. The program also offers open innovation, a process of refining business plans based on external partnerships, along with opportunities for business cooperation with large and mid-sized companies. At the end of the year, the FKI plans to hold an open innovation results-sharing event for the selected teams and to give awards to outstanding teams.

The FKI plans to expand participants' networks by linking the project with its existing entrepreneurship programs, such as "God-saeng Han-kki" and the "Future Leaders Camp." It also intends to increase participation by FKI member companies, building a private-sector-led startup support system that leads to technology cooperation, commercialization and investment ties between startups and large corporations. Applications will be accepted from the 10th to the 28th on the official Plus Startup website and the FKI website.

An FKI official said, "Fostering startups is an important social responsibility of businesses, and we will work to ensure that Plus Startup does not end as a one-time event but becomes a success story that strengthens the country's industrial base." The official added, "Marking our 65th anniversary, we will carry on the challenging spirit of the first generation of entrepreneurs who led South Korea's industrialization."