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The KSGC is an inbound program designed to attract promising foreign startups to Korea within the “Global Accelerating Activation Program” under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of the Republic of Korea. The objective, expected outcome, and effects of the KSGC are as follows.
You can ONLY apply through our official website, www.k-startupgc.org. Others such as email, phone, mail will not be accepted.
The application will be closed on 31st May. There will be no exception for the late submission.
In 2020, there were 2,648 applicants from 118 nations, and we selected 55 teams (ratio 44:1). In 2019, there were 1,677 applicants from 95 nations, and we selected 38 teams (42:1). In 2021, we are going to select 60 teams.
The program will be 3.5 months long, starting from mid August 1 – November 15, During this period, your team will be provided with free office space in the Global Boot Camp. If your team is chosen as final TOP 30 teams from the Demo Day, you will be able to continuously use the free office space.
An applicant team shall be consisting of a team leader (required) and members (optional). Only the team leader and members that are registered in the initial application, shall only be eligible to participate in the program. There is no limitation on the number of members in a team, but KSGC only offers 2 regular seats for each team during their participation. Other members can use the empty, unassigned seats.
The participating teams must stay in Korea and devote themselves to the KSGC program during the participating period. Participants must be present and leave attendance records at least 3 times per week at the Global Boot Camp.
A participate team is required to have an English speaker. Having a Korean speaker would be an optional. The official language in the KSGC is English.
When you are selected to participate in KSGC program, you are at your own responsibility to obtain a proper visa to enter Korea. KSGC will issue visa invitation letter(s) to participating startups upon request. Find more information at https://www.visa.go.kr/
It takes a few days to be eligible for D-10 visa, but it may take up to 4 months for D-8-4 visa as one has to earn certain OASIS points. Moreover, it usually takes 2~3 weeks to obtain D-10 and D-8-4 visa depending on the circumstances of the immigration office. While the visa issuance is in the process, you are not allowed to leave Korea until the visa status is confirmed.
The KSGC Secretariat Office will issue invitation letter for proper visa to enter Korea upon request. While waiting for the visa to be issued, please keep us updated with the status of visa issuance, expected date of entry, names of the team leader and member(s) who will attend the orientation and participate in the program.
One of the qualifications of the KSGC program is acquiring a proper visa to enter Korea. If you get disqualified from entering Korea or acquiring a proper visa to stay in Korea, you will be disqualified to participate in KSGC program. No worries, there has been no such cases so far.
Regarding the candidate selected by the previous paragraph, the president of the agency in charge shall confirm the participating teams after legal and institutional review including Korean market regulations and the executing agency’s consent and distribution, but this process does not constitute either approval or guarantee of the legal effectiveness of the participants’ business activities.
The applying team shall assume full responsibility in the event of an error in the email address, or failure to receive e-mails due to a faulty internet service provider or network defect provided by the applying team. The applying team is also responsible for checking the status of e-mail transmission and receipt by the agency in charge at all times so that communication can be done from and to each other in due course for each issue.
Helpdesk staffs will be available to answer your inquiries. We will announce the contact point of helpdesk once you are accepted to KSGC program.
The 2022 KSGC program will start on August 1 and the participating teams must enter Korea before then.
You may choose your own start date under unavoidable circumstances; however, there will be disadvantage for not fully participating in KSGC program, such as reduction in scores of final evaluation.
Yes, KSGC offers 2 regular seats and 2 desks per team during their participation. If there are more than 2 members in your team, other members can use the open office space.
It depends on the circumstance, such as availability of the seats and monitors, and consent of other teams.
In general, it is not possible to change the team leader. Team leader should participate in the whole process of KSGC program.
* It is not possible to change to new team leader who is newly hired in Korea during the program.
KSGC Secretariat Office shall take necessary measures including restriction on participation from KSGC when the participating teams and the follow-up support teams come under the items below.
Please let us know if you would like to use KSGCs logos, so that we can send you the original file (ai file) of our logo.
Of course, you can. Please let us know if your team has such great news!
You cannot change your accelerator once assigned, as your participation in the program have been decided by the accelerators.
The program will take place in Korea’s Pangyo Startup Campus, located within a walking distance of many of Korea’s top tech companies and just 14-minute subway ride away from the famous Gangnam district of Seoul.
* Address : (ZIP CODE 13488) 20, Pangyo-ro 289beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do)
Total of around 110 to 150 people. (60 KSGC Teams, 5 Korean Accelerators, 30 Korean interns, 15 Scale-up and OIP program participants) By sterilizing fingerprint identification equipment, furnishing hand sanitizer, and making wearing a mask mandatory, we will try our best to build up the safe environment so that foreign startups could have no worries and focus on business.
The official launching date of the program is on August 16th. All participants must come to Korea 2 weeks before the program starts. All people traveling to South Korea shall be subject to mandatory quarantine for 2 weeks, otherwise they will be refused to enter Korea. Since the KSGC program provides funds for living expenses, participants can use the money while living in the designated quarantine facility provided by KSGC program.
Useful Links:
- Instructions for Quarantine Subjects (for foreigners)
- Incheon Airport Covid 19 Responses
- Korea government's COVID 19 response system
- COVID 19 Statistics in Korea (Confirmed cases, etc) (updated daily)
In general, you could use accommodation services, such as airbnb, to rent the place during the early phase. Depending on your choices, you will be able to use various types of long term housing facilities, like houses, apartments, and monthly rent, later on. You will have the KSGC program manual including living information before you come to Korea.
Korea has been recognized by the world for reactions to COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, you can visit Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/en/) and WHO's Corona dashboard (https://covid19.who.int/).
If your question has not been answered through this FAQ, please contact us at k-startupgc@nipa.kr