The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 13th that it will recruit small and medium-sized companies to take part in the "2025 K Beauty Creator Challenge" starting on the 14th. The K Beauty Creator Challenge is a public-private collaboration project that discovers promising export SMEs in the beauty sector and supports them in pioneering global markets.
Last year, 10 corporations were selected from among 178 corporations hoping to enter the U.S. market, and they received marketing consulting from global platform companies and export vouchers, a government export support program. This year, as the number of corporations seeking export diversification grows due to U.S. tariff policy and other factors, the target regions will be expanded from the United States to three locations, including Japan and Southeast Asia.
Eligible participants are SMEs in the beauty sector, including inner beauty and beauty devices, with 2024 export performance of less than $5 million (about 7.13 billion won). Prospective founders with products at or beyond the prototype stage may also apply.
The selection process will proceed through preliminaries, semifinals, and finals to select a total of nine corporations, three per region. Corporations that pass each stage will be provided one-on-one tailored consulting for overseas expansion preparation, platform onboarding training, and upgrading marketing strategies, in connection with global platform companies and others.
The corporations ultimately selected will receive marketing support from regional global platform companies to strengthen product branding and increase sales, along with onboarding to those platforms. In addition, the government will provide linked support to export programs such as export vouchers and obtaining overseas standard certifications, and startup corporations may receive preferential benefits when participating in the initial startup package program.
Recruitment of participating companies will run through Oct. 28, and details can be found on the GoBizKorea website of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME).
Lee Soon-bae, director general for global growth policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "Since 2023, K-beauty, which has firmly established itself as the No. 1 export item among SMEs, plays a very important role in driving not only the globalization of beauty products themselves, but also the overall overseas expansion of various excellent products by our SMEs," adding, "We will spare no policy support so that the beauty sector's uniquely vibrant innovation ecosystem—where creative ideas are immediately commercialized and can easily meet domestic and overseas consumers—can continue."