Completion of the Korea Craft & Design Foundation’s ‘Today Tradition Startup Program’ Awards Ceremony
‘The Barun Company’ wins Minister’s Award
Director’s Award goes to ‘Eum’ and two other companies
Discovery of 122 promising companies over five years
New benefits including international promotions next year
On the 11th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft & Design Foundation held the ‘2024 Today Tradition Startup Awards Ceremony’ at COEX. This event awards prospective entrepreneurs and early-stage companies with outstanding performances in the Today Tradition Startup business for the year 2024 and introduces their business items.
Blending traditional culture with modern reinterpretation is becoming a popular trend. The neologism ‘Hip Tradition’ has even emerged, reflecting the enjoyment of the conventional in a hip way. This is the backdrop against which the ‘Today Tradition Startup Program’ organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft & Design Foundation is gaining attention.
The Today Tradition Startup Program aims to discover promising young entrepreneurial companies in the traditional culture sector and facilitate their market entry and growth. Anyone aged 39 or younger (49 or younger for tech startups) who runs a company in the traditional culture industry for less than three years can apply.
Selected companies receive tailored mentoring and up to 100 million KRW in support over three years. This year, selections were divided into ‘Product Development’, which supports design, mass production, and pricing, and ‘Market Expansion’, which aids distribution channel extension, intellectual property acquisition, and investment attraction.
The Ministry and Foundation also hold the ‘Today Tradition Youth Prospective Startup Contest’ as part of the program, providing a base for youth to venture into the traditional culture industry. In its fourth year, the contest aims to discover young prospective entrepreneurs with startup items in the traditional culture field and support their growth into startup entrepreneurs through specialized incubation.
On the 11th, at the COEX convention in Seoul’s Samseong-dong, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Foundation awarded outstanding results from the year’s program to promising startups and introduced innovative business items.
The Minister’s Award was given to ‘The Barun Company’, recognized for creating market opportunities for its ‘non-hardening rice cake’ both domestically and internationally. Using 100% domestic rice, their products are distinctive for being made without preservatives or emulsifiers, utilizing rapid freezing technology and vacuum mixing method. Founded in 2022, the company achieved a remarkable increase in annual sales from 860 million KRW to an estimated 1.5 billion KRW this year.
The Director’s Award was given to three companies: ‘Studio Arok’, with its popular textile craft products based on traditional culture; ‘Hanbok Life’, which established a specialized platform for Hanbok trading and rental; and ‘Eum’ for presenting popularized traditional Korean snacks to suit modern tastes.
Other awards, including the AC (Accelerator) Award, recognized various other startups that have incorporated traditional elements into their business models.
In 2025, the Today Tradition Startup Program will continue, aiming to select an additional 30 companies next March to operate about 55 companies in total. New benefits such as international promotions through collaborations with relevant organizations will be introduced, especially targeting overseas market entry facilitated by partnerships with U.S. ventures.
Benefits for contest winners will also be enhanced. In 2025, the grand prize and runner-up winners from the contest will receive ‘free pass rights’ when applying to the following year’s startup support project.
A foundation official stated, “We plan to implement various policy supports to help young entrepreneurs based on Korea’s traditional culture, allowing them to grow into outstanding traditional cultural businesses.”