Gyeonggi Province Fosters Virtual/Augmented Reality Companies...'2021 Gyeonggi VR/AR Audition'

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 15th that it will accept applications for participating companies in the '2021 Gyeonggi VR·AR Audition (hereafter audition)' until the 12th of next month.

Held regularly each year, the audition is a selection process for Gyeonggi Province's specialized VR/AR company development program that discovers promising VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) companies within the province and links them from commercialization through attracting follow-up investment by providing phased funding and growth support.

Through this audition, Gyeonggi Province will select 27 companies and invest a total of 1.455 billion won, providing 30 million won each in development funds to 11 companies at the idea stage and 70 million won each to 16 companies at the commercialization stage.

Selected companies will receive a six-month 1:1 professional mentoring program as well as investment consulting, investment attraction briefings, and a final results presentation.

Additionally, companies will be able to use facilities and equipment necessary for virtual/augmented reality development at the 'Gyeonggi XR (eXtended Reality, extended reality immersive content including virtual and augmented reality) Center' located in Gwanggyo, Suwon, free of charge, and will be given bonus points when applying for office space as a tenant company in the future.

Eligibility to participate in the audition includes prospective entrepreneurs and startups related to virtual/augmented reality, as well as companies that have been operating in the virtual/augmented reality sector for 7 years or less. The audition will focus on evaluation of ▲business viability (commercialization, market potential, etc.) ▲technological capability (technological originality, etc.) ▲implementation capability (business capacity, etc.).

The evaluation will be conducted by a public-private partnership committee comprised of leading domestic and international virtual/augmented reality companies and organizations, startup accelerators, and investment companies (VCs, venture capital firms).

Applications must be submitted online by 6 p.m. on March 12, and then participants must send their application form via email to vrar@gcon.or.kr.

Lim Moon-young, Head of Future Growth Policy at Gyeonggi Province, said, "This audition is an opportunity to select next-generation leaders who will apply and develop XR technology in wider fields," and added, "As linkages between XR industry and other industries are expanding significantly, such as non-face-to-face virtual meetings in virtual spaces and non-face-to-face tourism content using XR technology, we look forward to brilliant proposals from startups combining XR with various fields."

For more details, refer to the Gyeonggi Content Agency business announcement (www.gcon.or.kr) or contact the Future Content Team at Gyeonggi Content Agency (031-8064-1778).