SMEs ministry picks 50 AI vendors to back startup ideas

The SMEs ministry said Monday it has selected 103 artificial intelligence solutions from 50 suppliers to help participants in the second edition of its Everyone's Startup project turn ideas into products and services.

The selection caps a quality-focused screening by a panel of AI and software experts, who tested each application before judging how broadly it could be used, whether its technology and price were reasonable, and how well it handled data security. The ministry deliberately kept the supplier pool tight on quality grounds, choosing roughly 50 companies and allowing each to offer no more than three products.

The AI solutions are meant to support challengers as they carry out the market research, content production and service development needed to prepare a business and turn an idea into an actual product or service.

The tools cover the everyday work of getting a business off the ground, from building a website to generating promotional content and drafting contracts.

Participants who reached the first round of the second Everyone's Startup intake can spend up to 1 million won ($747) each on the solutions. The list goes live on the Everyone's Startup platform, at www.modoo.or.kr, on Monday, with detailed functions and instructions available from Oct. 14 and applications opening Oct. 16.

The ministry is also adding video guides for each product, letting challengers compare what the services do before committing part of their allowance.

"AI solutions are an important tool for challengers to give shape to their ideas and turn them into products and services," said Cho Kyung-won, the ministry's startup policy director. "We will strengthen our support so that they can easily choose the AI solutions they need and use them effectively, helping them grow into startups with real potential."

The wider Everyone's Startup project is run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and is open to any member of the public with an idea, offering training, mentoring and staged support aimed at turning participants into founders.