Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young is giving a greeting at the local festival. │Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center
Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center (Director Kim Won-kyung, hereinafter referred to as Gyeonggi Innovation Center) held ‘LOCAL FESTA with Lycon’ at Dongdaemun DDP for two days on December 7th and 8th. .
Lycon stands for ‘Lifestyle & Local Innovation uniCORN’. It contains the meaning of entrepreneurial small business owners who aim to become unicorn companies by creating new content through innovation in life and local.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups discovers local creators and strong small business owners who will become future LICONs through the Local Creator Activation Support Project and the Strong Small Business Growth Support Project.
The Creative Economy Innovation Center is hosting the 2023 Local Creator Activation Support Project, and this year has selected and supported local creators in six regions.
LOCAL FESTA with Lycon, in conjunction with this Donghaeng Festival, was hosted by the Gyeonggi Innovation Center, which is in charge of the metropolitan area, and promoted together with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Small Business Corporation, and the Korea Entrepreneurship Promotion Agency.
At the event, the local creators of the year 2023, who are growing while preserving local values, gathered in one place. At 10 am on the 7th, 6 teams selected as excellent local creators in each region (metropolitan area, Gangwon area, Chungcheong area, Honam area, Yeongnam area, Jeju) gathered and held an IR pitching competition to determine the local creator of the year. This year’s best company was Gyulmedal, a childcare company at Jeju Changgyeong Center. Gyul Medal is a startup that produces and sells juice made from 100% high-quality Jeju citrus.
A commemorative photo of the awarding of plaques to 6 local creators of the year. (From the left) Banong CEO Jang Seon-jae, Masitjiu CEO Kim Ji-woo, Tangerine Medal CEO Yang Je-hyun, Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young, Pinogen representative award winner, Good Spirit Company CEO Yoo Hee-moon, Banseok Industry CEO Song Chan-young, and Entrepreneurship Promotion Agency Director Lee Young-seok│Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center’s
excellent local creator companies include △Good Spirit Company (rice yogurt made with organic rice from Yangpyeong-gun) △Banong (local food made with pine nuts and rice from Hongcheon) △Masitjiwoo (raw snacks made with local agricultural products) △Pino Zen (cosmetics extracted from pine needles from Sobaeksan Mountain in Yeongju) and Banseok Industry (additive-free peanut butter using Gochang peanuts) participated and attracted attention.
Then, from 2 p.m., various events continued, including a plaque presentation ceremony for 16 strong small business owners and local creator teams selected as this year’s Lycon, presentations on cases of local brand commercial district creation, and a talk show.
Meanwhile, on this day’s event, a flea market and exhibition space were opened with the participation of about 50 teams of strong small business owners and local creators, giving them the opportunity to directly experience Lycon’s products and services.
In addition, the ‘Hi Seoul Fashion Market’ held by the Seoul Metropolitan Government was held at the same time, providing a variety of attractions such as the unique and sophisticated designs of K-fashion. In addition, at Yeonnam Mill, which is connected to D-Forest, a video content screening theater has been set up to provide a glimpse into the local identity. Here, a video containing various stories and stories of entrepreneurial small business owners attracted attention.
The Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center said, “Lycon is an entrepreneurial small business with the potential to grow into a world-class global brand such as Starbucks and Blue Bottle based on content and technology,” and added, “We will actively support it to become a new growth engine for Korea.” “It is,” he said.
Talk concert. (From left) Moderator Regional CEO Jo Kwon-neung, The Root Company CEO Kim Ji-woo, Urban Play Director Yong-won Lee, Donghae-hyung CEO Kim Eun-yul, and LA CEO Gye Hyo-seok│Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center