The government is launching a nationwide, public-participation startup project under the banner of "startups for all." It will identify 5,000 entrepreneurial talents across the country, including 4,000 tech founders and 1,000 local founders, and select promising entrepreneurs through preliminary rounds in 17 provinces and metropolitan cities and regional finals across five zones. After selection, the plan is to build a national startup ecosystem with systematic support spanning from launch and growth to second chances.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the National Startup Era Strategy Meeting at the Chungmu Room in the presidential office on the 30th and announced policy directions reflecting these details. About 60 people attended, including officials from relevant ministries, startups, and representatives from associations and organizations.
◇"From a society that looks for jobs to a society that creates them"
The government assessed that a K-shaped growth structure—where the fruits of growth are concentrated among large corporations, the capital region, and experienced workers—is becoming entrenched. It identified startups as a key solution for creating new jobs and agreed that a national-level response is needed. Moving beyond an indirect support role, the government will build a support system that shares risks as a "partner in startups" and create an environment where anyone with an idea can try to start a business.
The government will formally push ahead with the "startups for all" audition, a startup program in which the state invests in the public's ideas. The plan is to spread a startup boom nationwide centered on two pillars: tech startups and local startups. It will also drive innovation across the startup ecosystem by introducing regulatory exemptions, opening public data in high demand among corporations, and creating a 1 trillion won fund to support second chances.
In tech, the government will establish 10 startup cities by 2030 and promote policies to nurture deep-tech startups in defense, Climate Tech, and pharmaceuticals and biotech. Over the same period, it will foster local startups by developing 50 local commercial hubs and 17 glocal commercial districts leveraging regional assets such as culture and tourism, and by strengthening scale-up support for startup companies.
◇A nationwide public-participation startup audition… nurturing tech and local startups in tandem
The "startups for all project" is a startup talent development platform that anyone can join with just an idea. A total of 5,000 people—4,000 tech founders and 1,000 local founders—will be selected, provided 2 million won in startup activity funds, and supported by about 100 startup institutions nationwide and a team of professional mentors.
Among them, about 1,000 people will compete in preliminary rounds in 17 provinces and metropolitan cities and regional finals in five zones to select about 100 "startup rookies." Audition participants will receive up to 20 million won in commercialization funds and support to use AI solutions, and outstanding founders will be linked to follow-up support of up to 100 million won the following year. The final stage will be a national startup competition held at the global startup festival "COMEUP," where the winner will receive more than 1 billion won, including prize money and investment. A 50 billion won "startup boom fund" will also be created to concentrate investment in startup rookies.
The government will also strengthen the second-chance ecosystem so that failures during the challenge process can become an asset for future success. It will issue a "challenge resume" so that experience in "startups for all" can be used as work experience, and will build a "second-chance platform" centered on a second-chance support headquarters to provide a "failure resume" that can be used for future applications to startup programs.
Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and Han Seong-sook, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said jointly, "We will push the startups for all project with speed and spread it into a startup boom that the public can feel."