The integrated special city of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju has selected 43 startups to receive support for piloting innovative technologies and prototype products through January next year, the city announced Thursday.
The city is committing 2.8 billion won ($1.93 million) in project funding this year to provide pilot opportunities across three tracks: 12 companies addressing public and private sector needs, 28 companies pursuing self-directed projects, and three companies in a venue-provision track.
Selected companies will receive up to 60 million won in pilot costs, along with access to venues suited to their technology — including university hospitals, urban rail concourses and traditional markets.
Pilot fields span AI-based medical care, caregiving and video analysis, energy management, autonomous driving, disaster safety, and education and administrative services.
The program will help companies identify product flaws and areas for improvement while advancing their technology. After the program ends, the city will continue supporting participants with public procurement access, overseas market development and linkages to Korea International Cooperation Agency projects.
The city is also recruiting about 13 companies from among regional agri-food exporters to participate in an AI digital marketing support program.
Working with KOTRA's Gwangju-South Jeolla support center, the initiative will cover AI-generated advertising images and short-form video production, overseas buyer outreach, video consultations and post-consultation follow-up.
sij@heraldcorp.com
