SERIES V
500 Korea’s Seed Program
Seed Program is an accelerator program that selects early-stage startups and provides 500's growth support. Selected teams may receive seed investment and participate in a 3-week program led by global mentors from 500 Global.
Since 2015, the 500 Korea family of funds has invested in 50+ startups. We aim to make active seed investments in Korean companies so that Korean entrepreneurs can grow in the global market. Among the Korean portfolio companies are Spoon Radio, People Fund, Finda, Dano, OP.GG, Catch Fashion, Closet Share, Saib & Co., Newneek, Veluga, Payple, Dive Studio, Storicity, Sankun, Wonder Weeks Company, and Big Wavv.
You'll receive 3 weeks of 1:1 mentoring led by 500's global mentors, as well as the opportunity to attend 500 Korea's exclusive lectures and networking events. You will have access to the 500 team, seasoned entrepreneurs, and experienced industry experts to give feedback and offer guidance.
Selected companies may receive investment of up to USD $250,000. We charge KRW5 million (~US $4,150) to participate.
We offer our portfolio companies a variety of perks from companies we've partnered with. You'll have access to perks and credits from companies like Salesforce, Airtable, Notion, Google Cloud, AWS, Hubspot, Azure, IBM, Intercom, and more may be available from time to time.500 brings in a wide variety of experts focused on marketing, culture, startup accounting, product design, sales, finance, and more. Think a Startup MBA on steroids.
TIMELINE OVERVIEW
1-8 WEEKS
Once companies have submitted their applications, we review each of them individually on a first come first served basis.
1 WEEK
After the initial application review, selected applicants will be asked to attend a face-to-face session with the team. We’ll then narrow down our top picks and the remaining applications will have a private interview with a 500 Korea partner.
2 WEEKS
Two pre-program sessions are held before the program begins to diagnose and understand the current situation of each participating company. Founders will be able to connect with the 500 Korea team members and a lead mentor, focusing on their product/service and their goals for the program.
These sessions allow us to make tweaks and customise our program curriculum to ensure companies get the most out of the program.
3 WEEKS
Participating companies will receive mentoring on a variety of topics, which may include target customer analysis, sales funnel, growth marketing, product launch strategies, profit models, and capital attraction strategies. The bootcamp-style training program focuses on KPIs to achieve the next stage (from Seed to Pre-Series A) and is designed with the aim to achieve positive results for startups in a short period.
WHAT ARE YOUR RECRUITING FIELDS AND SELECTION CRITERIA? IS MY COMPANY ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?
WILL YOU CONSIDER THE STARTUP FOUNDER'S GENDER AND AGE?
I CAN'T SPEAK/UNDERSTAND ENGLISH FLUENTLY. WILL THIS BE AN ISSUE? WILL I LOSE OUT ON MENTORSHIP AND GUIDANCE?
WILL SELECTED TEAMS HAVE TO PAY A SEPARATE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION FEE?
WILL I GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO NETWORK WITH EXISTING 500 PORTFOLIO COMPANIES?
HOW DO I KNOW IF I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE PROGRAM?
CAN I APPLY EVEN THOUGH MY COMPANY HAS RECEIVED EXTERNAL INVESTMENTS, OR HAVE JOINED ANOTHER ACCELERATOR PROGRAM?
HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED THE PROGRAM?
SHOULD I APPLY AGAIN IF I AM REJECTED?
