Deadline: 20-Aug-2025
The National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) has announced a call for AI startups to participate in the AI Youth Festa 2025. This event seeks to strengthen the AI startup ecosystem across the ASEAN region and support progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The initiative includes an eight-week online acceleration program provided by the Korean accelerator Y&ARCHER. Twenty-two selected teams will receive tailored business support, including access to cloud services and payment gateway systems from providers like Google Cloud, Naver Cloud, and Amazon Web Services. Additionally, each awarded team will receive market research consulting focused on their target regions.
Participants will also benefit from travel support for the pitch competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This includes hotel accommodation and round-trip airfare for a 4-day, 3-night stay. A networking event during the competition will connect participants with venture capitalists, accelerators, and companies interested in AI innovation.
Top-performing teams will receive cash prizes. The first-place team will be awarded KRW 28 million (approximately USD 20,000), second place will receive KRW 14 million (around USD 10,000), and third place will get KRW 7 million (approximately USD 5,000).
The program is open to 22 startup teams, selecting two from each of the following countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Republic of Korea. Eligible applicants include startups established after August 21, 2018, and pre-startups that have not yet registered as business proprietors. Applicants must be working in the AI technology sector with solutions aligned with the SDGs and must hold ASEAN or Korean nationality.
For more information, visit NIPA.
