Press

"What is the real problem?" "Was our hypothesis correct?" "How can we survive for a long time?" On the afternoon of the 23rd, at Monttak Processing Plant of the Jeju Social Economy Support Center, discussions continued to refine each team's business model. This is the entrepreneurship education site for those who passed the first screening of the social venture startup competition 'Klang Challenge.' It is the first step in resolving the problem consciousness and ideas for a healthier local community through business models. The Klang Challenge aims not simply to determine rankings and provide funding, but to develop more concrete and solid practical models. Fifteen teams that passed the first screening among the ideas submitted through recruitment last month are participating in this training. The final four teams will receive 15 million won in startup costs and consulting. The training, which began on the 9th and continues until the 7th of next month, is a process of realizing ideas for a better world. 'Underdogs,' Korea's first social innovation startup builder, is serving as a guide from the most basic item specification and advancement, market analysis, to comprehensive business planning. From basic business methodology to pitching in front of virtual investors, it is about building fundamental corporate fitness to minimize business failure rates. It is about making sufficient advance preparations together so that participants can survive firmly and for a long time. This differs from the existing government employment support policies that often pushed unprepared people into the startup market for quantitative results. It is not a contest to select winners, but a dimension of upgrading the capabilities of all participants dreaming of social ventures. Yu Seok-young, director of Underdogs, said, "We are delivering practical, action-oriented 'entrepreneurship methods' that participants can navigate on their own even after training," and "The goal is to nurture self-sustaining startups where social problem-solving and business models can go hand in hand." He added, "Interest in social innovation in Jeju through projects like the Klang Project that concretizes ideas can be seen as a stage where a social economy ecosystem is being created," and "A characteristic of this social challenge Jeju participants is that many have strong social missions." The Klang Challenge is part of the Klang Project hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and the Jeju Regional Human Resources Development Committee, and organized by the Jeju Social Economy Network and Jeju Social Economy Support Center.