About the Springboard Programme
The Youth SDG innovation platform for Asia-Pacific
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Youth Co:Lab Korea is co-led by the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre and Citi Foundation, together with partners in the Republic of Korea (ROK) such as Ulsan Metropolitan Government, Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology, WFUNA, UNESCAP, Citibank Korea and CVC Capital Partners Korea. With the aim to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship, the programme provides capacity building, networking and investment support to young impact entrepreneurs and start-ups in the ROK and within the Asia Pacific region.
Citypreneurs
Youth Co:Lab Korea’s signature programme is Citypreneurs. It is an impact start-up acceleration programme for start-ups focusing on opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. It aims to provide acceleration and mentoring support, as well as connect start-ups that tackle global challenges to accelerate the achievement of SDGs.
Annual start-up challenge
Youth Co:Lab Korea 2024
Youth Co:Lab Korea’s annual acceleration programme provides business and impact capacity building support, as well as connection with investors, industry experts, peer start-ups and other impact ecosystem enablers.
1:1 mentoring
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Private sessions with industry and social impact experts from the region to help formulate the best strategy for participants to maximize their social impact and business outcomes.
Networking
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Participants learn from each other during a series of curated activities with the community made up of peer startups, industry experts and other impact players from the Asia Pacific region.
The acceleration program consists of various elements such as:
Youth Co:Lab Korea’s annual acceleration programme provides business and impact capacity building support, as well as connection with investors, industry experts, peer start-ups and other impact ecosystem enablers.
Workshops
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Sessions aim to assist participants in enhancing their business practices in areas such as HR, law, and patents as well as impact-profit alignment, covering the SDGs framework as public-private value proposition, impact storytelling linked to larger systemic change in their industry, and refining impact metrics for data validation.
Policy Dialogue
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Policy dialogue is organized to promote a further sustainable and inclusive local impact ecosystem and policy setting. It brings together diverse stakeholders including the startups, investors, accelerators, policy makers, civil society and academia to collectively exchange knowledge from different viewpoints, and to ultimately work towards bringing about tangible actions for further development of the impact ecosystem.
Our Local Partners
Citypreneurs
United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific
World Federation of United Nations Associations
UNIST
Ulsan Metropolican Government
Find out about Korean startup Tella's impact on youth skills development and job creation. Tella provides English tutoring services through web/app platforms based on 1:1 conversation between English native speaking tutors in English-speaking developing countries and English learners in non-native countries.
Kepul (Indonesia)
An Indonesia-based startup, Kepul, has developed a waste management application designed to streamline recycling processes. Their app makes it easy for users to sell their domestic waste, promoting efficient recycling and contributing to a more sustainable Indonesia.
Our Impact in Republic of Korea
1180+
teams have applied since the launch of Youth Co:Lab Korea
280+
teams from across Asia and the Pacific have received mentoring and impact-profit alignment training
$265K
granted as award money since the launch of Youth Co:Lab Korea
Partnerships and Collaborations
If you are keen to know more about the Youth Co:Lab initiative in Republic of Korea and would like to explore partnerships and collaborations, you can write to us to Ms. Julie Lee (julie.lee@undp.org)