AI Innovation Arena: The Second AI+Open Data Challenge, Expanding Entrepreneurial Opportunities

The Small and Medium Risk Enterprise Department will use data held by public institutions to begin developing artificial intelligence services closely connected to everyday life. Recruitment for the “2nd AI + Open Data Challenge” for artificial intelligence startup companies will continue until June 5, 2026.

This project aims to connect public data with services that can be practically used at administrative and industry sites. Its significance lies in combining various policies, financial, and corporate data accumulated by the government with private-sector artificial intelligence technology—improving administrative efficiency and building a support system that small merchants and entrepreneurial companies can truly feel. Against the backdrop of recent competition in artificial intelligence technology shifting toward infrastructure and data acquisition capabilities, using public data to develop services has also been interpreted as a policy means to provide new business opportunities for startups.

There are six subjects in total, including: automatic generation of policy funding loan application forms; small merchant financial support decision models; an artificial intelligence model for generating entrepreneurial company growth track records; policy effects prediction and analysis; an automatic identification service for innovation-growth industry companies; and market entry strategy recommendations. In short, the goal is to create tools for automatically drafting complex administrative documents, or more precisely screening support targets and evaluating policy effectiveness. This aligns with the direction of reducing repetitive work for civil servants while enabling companies, as demand-side entities, to use support programs faster and in a more targeted, refined manner.

The Small and Medium Risk Enterprise Department plans to select 30 companies through a written review to advance to the finals, and provide each of these companies with KRW 20,000,000 in development and validation funding. In addition, development infrastructure such as a graphics processing unit (GPU)—a core device required for large-scale artificial intelligence computing—will also be provided. After that, following expert review and evaluation by a demonstration group composed of small merchants and personnel related to small and medium-sized enterprises, the final selection will be made of 6 companies, and each will receive a KRW 100,000,000 bonus. Winning companies will also receive preferential treatment in selections for startup support packages, the “Super Gap” project, and technology innovation R&D support programs. This is not simply a one-time competition; rather, it is structured to be connected with subsequent support.

An information session for startup companies interested in the event will be held on May 12 at the Korea Venture Investment conference room in Seocho District, Seoul. Minister Han Seong-sook of the Small and Medium Risk Enterprise Department said that this challenge will be an opportunity to greatly improve administrative services by combining public data with startups’ cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology. As the government increasingly pushes forward both the cultivation of the artificial intelligence industry and innovative public services, the number of empirical projects using public data is expected to further increase, and the scope of policy participation by private startups is also expected to expand further.