KOCHI:
A two-member delegation from South Korea visited Maker Village, India’s largest electronic incubator, on Thursday in connection with the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018 to be held in Seoul in July, which will open a window for startups to compete and win attractive monetary prizes.
The contest, being organised by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, Korea (NIPA), will give an access to the contestants to Korea’s top tech companies with expertise ranging from smartphones and software to semiconductors. Besides giving immense investment opportunities for the Indian startups, it will also pave the way for Korean startups to come to India and operate.
The delegation, comprising HyoGeun Kim ( Harry), Executive Director, NIPA and Tak Lee, Executive Advisor, NIPA, said they were much impressed by the support and encouragement given by the Kerala Government to boost the startup ecosystem in the state.”Some of the most modern equipment in the maker village are a perfect example of it,” they said.
The screening and interview of the competition, which is open to all the South West Asian countries, will be held at Bangalore in July.
Besides India, the contest is open to all South West Asian countries. Interested startups can begin applying through NIPA’s website, for which the closing date is June 14.
Eighty participants will get the opportunity to take part in the contest which will be held in Seoul. First, second and third prize winners will get 10,0000 USD, 40,000 USD and Rs 20,000 USD respectively, followed by a consolation prize of Rs 6,000 USD.
Those who are selected will get the opportunity to live in Korea for six months . In addition to that, the first 40 startups will get monetary assistance worth Rs 15 lakhs.
To get more details of the contest : https://www.k-startupgc.org/
They held discussions with the Maker Village officials.
