Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) (President Yang O-bong), which operates the Sports Industry Startup Support Program supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, is recruiting companies to participate in this year's program.

The JBNU Pre-Seed and Early Startup Support Center announced on the 19th that it will recruit 16 pre-startup and early-stage startup companies from February 15 to March 4. With an expanded scope of support in the sports sector, two more companies will be selected than last year.

Eligible applicants include pre-startup entrepreneurs with outstanding startup ideas in the sports industry and early-stage startups with less than three years in operation. Businesses from different industries producing products or services unrelated to the existing sports industry may also apply as pre-startup entrepreneurs.

JBNU will provide selected companies with an average commercialization support grant of KRW 45 million and offer tailored startup incubation programs, including phased entrepreneurship training and business networking.

Applications can be submitted online via the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation's Sports Industry Support website (spobiz.kspo.or.kr). For further details, please refer to the JBNU Startup Support Center and the Sports Industry Support website.

Son Jeong-min, head of JBNU's Startup Support Center, said, "Thanks to the active participation and cooperation of startup companies last year, we were able to exceed our performance targets," and added, "This year as well, we will spare no effort in providing comprehensive support for successful startups."