K-Startup Grand Challenge

Run by Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Korea).

Run annually by Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the K-Startup Grand Challenge is a hybrid programme in Seoul structured in three narrowing phases - Discover, Accelerate and Scale - from July through to the following June. Support is equity-free, with prize money for the leading teams and additional commercialisation grants, though specific amounts are not stated on the official programme page. Generalist by sector.

Investment

Not disclosed

Equity taken

0% (Like 72% of East Asia & Pacific · Like 79% globally)

Duration

48 weeks (Longer than East Asia & Pacific median 15 wks · Longer than global median 20 wks)

Format

hybrid

Cadence

annual

Location

Seoul, South Korea

Sectors

• Generalist

How to apply

Official website

This programme has notes explaining its undisclosed figures, available in the full dataset.

Sources

Every figure above is taken from these pages, published by the programme or its parent organisation.

• https://ksgc.global/grand-challenge read 2026-09-05 — supports equity pct, duration weeks, batch cadence, format, application url
• https://ksgc.global/ read 2026-09-07 — supports contact email

Other accelerators in Seoul

• Antler Korea
• dcamp batch
• Primer Club Batch
• SparkClaw
• SparkLabs Korea Accelerator
• TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup)

Last verified 2026-09-05.