32 Companies Selected to Advance to the Finals of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ ‘K-Startup of the Year’
- Input
- 2026-09-09 14:24:22
- Updated
- 2026-09-09 14:24:22
The K-Startup of the Year competition is a pan-governmental startup competition for early-stage companies with no more than three years of operating history, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 9th. It has produced innovative companies such as Wrtn Technologies, LD Carbon and Lion Robotics.
This year, nine ministries, including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Education, are operating specialized leagues by sector. Outstanding companies from each league will compete in the pan-governmental integrated finals. A total of 130 teams will advance to the integrated finals.
The AI League and Innovative Startup League, organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, received 344 and 630 applications, respectively.
Following an evaluation, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected a total of 32 companies to advance to the integrated finals: 10 from the AI League and 22 from the Innovative Startup League.
Intellisia won the AI League. The company provides a market research solution based on AI-generated virtual technology to reduce the time and cost involved in conducting market research.
The Ace Company won the Innovative Startup League with a video detection system designed to prevent accidents in semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes.
The teams advancing to the finals will participate in the ‘K-Startup of the Year Integrated Finals Kickoff Event’ on the 22nd.
The 20 companies selected in the integrated finals will then advance to the final championship. Winning companies will receive prize money of up to 500 million won, along with preferential treatment when being selected for follow-up support programs such as the Early-Stage Startup Package.
[email protected] Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter