The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said it will hold the "2026 integrated audition for innovative small merchants" from the 22nd to the 26th to discover and foster innovative small merchants.
The integrated audition is being promoted as a follow-up to the government's "everyone's local commercial district strategy." It was arranged to select participants for the "local startup leap support project" to foster local startups, the "startup growth R&D (small merchants track)" that supports technology development, and the "global small merchant development" project that supports overseas expansion of key local stores.
A total of 10,220 corporations applied for this year's audition, recording a competition rate of about 15 to 1. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) conducted in-depth evaluations on the 4th to the 5th and selected 1,250 corporations to participate in the audition.
By project, applications were filed by 9,422 for the local startup leap support project, 149 for the startup growth R&D (small merchants track), and 649 for the global small merchant development project.
The project discovers local corporations that leverage regional resources and characteristics and supports them with consulting and business model advancement. Starting this year, the selection ratio for non-capital regions will be expanded to 90%.
The startup growth R&D (small merchants track) supports technology development and commercialization by small merchants with creative ideas, and the global small merchant development project provides a package of support for education, product development, and market development to nurture local corporations with export capabilities.
Among the corporations participating in the audition, those run by representatives in their 20s to 30s accounted for 42.5%.
The project will proceed with regional auditions by area, including the capital area, central area, southeast area, Honam area, and Daegyeong area, while the startup growth R&D and global small merchant development projects will be run as nationwide integrated auditions. Finalist corporations will receive commercialization funds and professional mentoring.
Depending on growth stage, up to 50 million won will be provided to early-stage corporations and up to 100 million won to mature corporations as commercialization funds. The global small merchant development project will also provide up to 100 million won per corporation, and the startup growth R&D (small merchants track) will provide up to 200 million won over two years for 50 final selected tasks for technology development.
Lee Byeong-gweon, second vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "Through systematic support that connects startup, growth, and exports, we will foster local entrepreneurs into key stores in local commercial districts and actively support them to grow into glocal corporations competing in the global market."