Vietnamese start-ups will have the opportunity to attend professional training courses, receive consultations from experts and seek investment capital by attending the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018.

This is a project conducted and financed by the South Korean government, said Mai Duy Quang, vice president of the Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA), at a press conference in Ha Noi on Thursday to introduce the programme.

The K-Startup Grand Challenge aims to promote the expansion of an open entrepreneurship ecosystem in Asia, he said, adding that Vietnamese start-ups will have the chance to win US$100,000 as the first prize and receive assistance from the South Korean government.

Youn Jung Park, director of the Korea IT Co-operation Centre, said Viet Nam had a young and proactive start-up community with many innovative ideas.

Some 80 start-ups worldwide will receive $11,130 each to pay for their cost of living during the three-and-a-half-month training and will be able to connect with investors in South Korea, she said.

The top 40 start-ups will be supported with more than $22,000 each for business establishment and operation in the first six months in South Korea. Interested entrepreneurs can register for the programme on http://kstartup.vinasa.org.vn by June 14.

The qualification round will be held on July 9-10 in Ha Noi and July 11-12 in HCM City. Potential start-ups will be chosen to compete in the final round in South Korea. So far, 37 start-ups have registered for the programme, including 16 Vietnamese firms.

This is the third edition of the K-Startup Grand Challenge held on an international scale. In the first two events, 41 start-ups collected $26 million from investors. They inked 46 contracts and over 300 cooperative agreements, with over 80 start-ups cooperating with large South Korean corporations. — VNS