The Ministry of Science and ICT expanded this year's support pool for student startups at the four institutes of science and technology to 140 teams. The scale has grown significantly compared with support for around eight teams previously.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 3rd that it will hold the final round of the joint student startup competition of the four institutes of science and technology, "GRAVITY 2026," at KAIST.
GRAVITY 2026 is a student startup program jointly run by KAIST, GIST, DGIST, and UNIST. It identifies prospective and early-stage startup teams made up of undergraduates and graduate students and supports education and commercialization.
A total of 310 teams took part in the call this year. Using a supplementary budget of 39.8 billion won for deep-tech startup support at the four institutes, the Ministry of Science and ICT expanded the support pool to 35 teams per institute, 140 teams in total. In the past, about eight teams were supported, two per institute.
A total of 20 teams advanced to the final round that day, including 10 undergraduate teams and 10 graduate teams. Undergraduate teams will present services based on artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and information and communications technology (ICT), while graduate teams will present business models that use research results in semiconductors, bio, healthcare, and optics.
The evaluation will be based on the differentiation of the technology and business model, marketability, and growth potential. The top 10 teams will receive the Minister of Science and ICT Award and presidents' awards from the institutes, and prize money of up to 200 million won will be given according to ranking. Follow-up support such as global accelerating, overseas proof of concept (PoC), and investment linkage will also be provided.
Using this competition as a springboard, the Ministry of Science and ICT will also expand the startup support system at the four institutes. With new startup institutes established at GIST, DGIST, and UNIST in July this year, all four institutes, including KAIST, now have dedicated startup support organizations. Going forward, the plan is to link technology discovery, prototype development, overseas proof of concept, and startup education to support commercialization of research results and student startups.
Kim Sung-soo, director general for research and development policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "This GRAVITY 2026 is a symbolic venue that shows how Korea's top research capabilities lead to market innovation," adding, "We will continue unstinting support so that young scientists, including those at the four institutes, can take on startups without fear and thrive on the global stage."