Startups Backed by Creative Economy Innovation Centers Win Six Awards at the ‘Challenge! K-Startup 2025’ Grand Finale

‘Challenge! K-Startup 2025,’ the largest pan-government startup competition in South Korea jointly operated by 10 government ministries, has served as a representative gateway to the domestic startup ecosystem by discovering startups equipped with both technological capabilities and business viability each year. In particular, the Innovation Startup League (General) is a preliminary league jointly operated by Creative Economy Innovation Centers nationwide and is one of the representative leagues of Challenge! K-Startup, attracting an average of around 1,000 teams annually.

This year, a total of 1,122 companies applied to the Innovation Startup League (General) through 16 Creative Economy Innovation Centers nationwide. Among them, 40 companies recognized for their competitiveness and growth potential advanced to the integrated main round. These companies competed on the integrated main stage alongside companies selected through leagues run by other ministries, and as a result, eight companies from the Innovation Startup League advanced to the Grand Finale.

As a result of the Grand Finale, in the Pre-Startup League, PlankLab Inc. (CEO: Seokbeom Kim) received the Excellence Award. In the Startup League, EZ Korea Inc. (CEO: Taewoo Kim) won the Grand Prize, while Omnicoat Inc. (CEO: Soonhong Park), PulseAd Inc. (CEO: Geoseong Yoon), and Amously Inc. (CEO: Seungchoun Choi) received Excellence Awards, and Biosion Inc. (CEO: Woochul Jung) received the Encouragement Prize. In addition, Pleaders Inc. (CEO: Chanyoung Lim) and Riad Corporation (CEO: Byungjoo Lee) received Special Awards.

The award-winning companies are expected to receive substantial follow-up support linked to government startup support programs, including preferential evaluation, expanded opportunities for investment attraction, and business advancement.

Considering the nature of the competition, in which the journey from preliminary leagues to the Grand Finale is lengthy, Creative Economy Innovation Centers nationwide have continued to provide support at intermediate stages to maintain motivation and expand outcomes for participating companies. In August, the Seoul Creative Economy Innovation Center held a separate awards ceremony for the top five companies among those that advanced to the integrated main round, highlighting outstanding companies early and encouraging participating companies preparing for further competition. In addition, a total of two Open Innovation Meetup Days were held to provide Innovation Startup League participants with opportunities to directly meet investors and large and mid-sized enterprises to explore possibilities for business collaboration and investment linkage.

In addition, Creative Economy Innovation Centers have provided participating companies with practical follow-up support such as IR enhancement and business strategy consulting to strengthen their competitiveness. Based on this support, many companies enhanced their level of technological completeness and market readiness, achieving notable results on the national competitive stage.

A representative of a Creative Economy Innovation Center stated, “Through cooperation among centers, we will continue to discover outstanding companies and provide ongoing support so that they can make further leaps forward.”

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