2015 Global Start-up Program for Foreigners

Photos courtesy of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology

“Creative Economy” is today’s agenda. People no longer have to be afraid of making their dreams become reality with a new support program called “2015 Technology Based Start-up Support Program for Foreigners”, which is designed for foreigners who want to make their ideas a reality in Korea.

This program is organized by SMBA and KISED, and operated by GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) and KIST (Korean Institute of Science and Technology) as Global Start-up Immigration Center.

The aim of this program is to encourage foreigners with promising ideas to start their businesses here in Korea, with the hope of creating more jobs and boosting the Korean economy.

The program provides up to 50 million Korean won that can be used for business expenses (depending on your business area).There is also start-up education, so entrepreneurs can prepare themselves with the necessary knowledge about how to start or manage the many aspects of their business. If that is not enough, a mentoring program will help. Foreign entrepreneurs will have a person-to-person consultation from various specialists who will connect them with possible investors. Additionally, other support programs, such as Intellectual Property Right, product certification, exhibition participation, and marketing are also available for the entrepreneurs.

This program began in June 2014, when 28 foreign teams had been selected to start their businesses with the support of the program. Their business ideas ranged from creating game applications to thin-layer deposition equipment. Participants come from all around the world and vary in work experience. For example, there is a Korean participant who graduated from foreign art school and worked for well-known companies as a designer and a Slovenian participant with a background in computer engineering.

This year’s recruitment will be from April 16 to May 20. The main qualifications for the application is being a non-Korean citizen with at least bachelor’s degree, having a Korean partner for fund support, and of course having an amazing business idea. GIST will select approximately 30 teams in the first phase to give them the opportunity to develop their business plan in a more competitive way. The final selection of 15 entrepreneurs will happen in July, so they can realize their dreams.

If you are interested in further details, procedures and contents, please contact GIST Business Incubator, Lee Soo Young at  062-715-2595 or sooyoung5669@hotmail.com.