The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will hold the "Regulatory Freedom Special Zone Challenge" to enhance the performance of the regulatory freedom special zone project and recruit participants from the 27th to May 27th.
 

This year, it will be divided into the "Regulatory Special Zone Commercialization Challenge" that uses 71 demonstration tasks in 29 special zones and the "Exploitation Special Regulation Discovery Challenge" that prevents new technologies from entering the market. In addition, the announcement and award ceremony of the finals will be integrated with the special zone fair, and famous venture capital (VC) investors and venture company representatives will be composed of judges.
 

Qualifications for the Regulatory Special Zone Commercialization Challenge are small and medium-sized enterprises and prospective entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas in the field related to 71 demonstration tasks in the Regulatory Free Special Zone. If you pass the national preliminary round after the regional preliminary round, you can receive mentoring such as improving your business model, and companies that win the finals will receive up to 500 million won worth of growth-sharing funds and up to 10 million won in rewards. In addition, if you participate as a special zone business operator in the field, you can receive special regulatory exceptions and funding to conduct demonstration and commercialization.
 

Vincennes is a company that was participating as a special business operator of hydrogen green mobility in Ulsan in 2019 and participated in the Regulatory Freedom Special Zone Challenge last year to win the grand prize and receive 300 million won in commercialization funds. Since then, the company has been pushing for an eco-friendly hydrogen ship construction project and has expanded its size through investment attraction.
 

Neokenbio was founded in June last year and participated in the Regulatory Free Zone Challenge last year with a plan for commercialization related to industrial hempik-gu in Gyeongsangbuk-do and received the best prize and 300 million won in commercialization funds. As a result, the company has been added as an industrial Hemp special zone operator in Gyeongsangbuk-do and is carrying out demonstration projects, and its value has expanded by successfully attracting investment in Series A.

An official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "The demonstration special regulation challenge is designed to discover cases where new technologies and new projects cannot be licensed due to regulations or lack of licensing standards." If you pass the national preliminary round after the regional preliminary round, you can receive consulting through regulatory and legal experts, and the winners of the final round will receive up to 5 million won in rewards, he said.