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12th Busan Startup Idea Competition Concludes Successfully… Fostering Innovative Ideas and Future Entrepreneurs

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that it held the finals of the 12th Busan Startup Idea Competition at BEXCO Exhibition Center 1 at 1:00 p.m. yesterday, October 7, and selected the final award-winning teams.

The competition is Busan’s flagship introductory startup event, aimed at promoting a culture of entrepreneurship and discovering promising aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative ideas.

Hosted by Busan Metropolitan City, the competition was jointly organized by the Busan Startup Investment Agency and 11 universities in Busan, with cooperation from the Korea Student Aid Foundation.

The 11 participating universities were Tongmyong University, Dongseo University, Dong-A University, Dong-Eui University, Pukyong National University, Pusan National University, Catholic University of Pusan, Busan Women’s University, Busan University of Foreign Studies, Youngsan University, and Korea Maritime & Ocean University.

Marking its 12th edition this year, the competition began accepting applications in May and conducted approximately four months of phased evaluations and practical training leading up to the finals.

Of the 346 teams comprising 1,082 undergraduate and graduate students, high school students, and out-of-school youth from across the country, Busan Metropolitan City selected 15 finalist teams through document screening, idea-development mentoring, preliminary evaluations, and other stages.

The finalist teams prepared for the competition through practical training, including investor-relations pitching consulting.

The finals were divided into two parts: the final judging session in Part 1 and the awards ceremony in Part 2.

The finalist teams presented their distinctive ideas and were evaluated primarily on originality, feasibility, business potential and suitability, growth strategy and team capabilities, and presentation quality. Five judges selected the award-winning teams through question-and-answer sessions and in-depth evaluations.

A total of 15 teams received awards in the finals, with total prize money amounting to KRW 73.5 million.

The prestigious Busan Metropolitan City Mayor’s Award, presented to one team with prize money of KRW 15 million, went to “Home Together” from Seoul National University of Science and Technology for its proptech solution for standardizing youth housing products based on housing-cycle data.

The University President’s Awards, each carrying KRW 5 million in prize money, were presented to 11 teams: “REBLOCK,” “Ocean Assure,” “Auto Safer,” “gridi,” “Retable,” “Moduui Bokyak,” “Nova Lab,” “Oggie,” “Safe Position,” “Safe On Ring,” and “Just.”

In addition, the Korea Student Aid Foundation Chairman’s Award, carrying KRW 1.5 million, went to “Biz”; the Busan Anchor Center Director’s Award, carrying KRW 1 million, went to “Dimeer”; and the Busan Startup Investment Agency President’s Award, carrying KRW 1 million, went to “WAVE.”

Lee Dong-yeop, Director-General for Financial and Startup Policy at Busan Metropolitan City, said, “Just as important as helping startups that have already succeeded to scale up is continuously promoting an entrepreneurial culture through competitions like this and discovering promising aspiring entrepreneurs.”

“We will actively support students in taking on new challenges and pursue multifaceted efforts to establish Busan as a cradle of innovative entrepreneurship,” he added.