Daily Busan
In search of a Busan ‘unicorn’
The Busan Representative Start-up Support Program brings together organizations to identify and nurture start-up companies that possess innovative technologies and demonstrate high growth potential. This public, private and academic partnership was established in 2017 with the goal of finding the next “unicorn,” a privately held start-up company with a value of over 1 billion U.S. dollars.
Four organizations, including Busan City, Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Busan Economic Promotion Agency, and Busan Techno Park, collaborate each year to financially support start-ups in the city. Since its launching, 759 local businesses have benefited from the program. The selected companies are grouped into four categories: Bright, Million, Platinum, and Ace Stella.
On June 12, Busan City announced the latest group of companies to receive funding. During a ceremony at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Haeundae-gu district, 63 companies were honored as “2023 Busan Representative Start-ups.”
The Bright Club, sponsored by the Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, provides customized commercialization funds of up to 10 million won per company to 20 companies.
The Million Club, managed by the Busan Economic Promotion Agency, offers commercialization funds of up to 3 million won to 36 companies. Additionally, it plans to provide up to 20 million won of business advancement funds to three exceptional start-up companies in their second year of certification.
The Platinum Club, overseen by Busan Technopark, supports commercialization funds of up to 10 million won per company for four companies. It also runs a capacity-building program to help companies attract future investment.
The Ace Stella, also supervised by Busan Techno Park, identifies three start-ups with verified business feasibility and provides commercialization funds of up to 100 million won. The primary focus is on nurturing these start-ups to become “baby unicorn” or “preliminary unicorn” companies in the future.