The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) announced on the 4th that it is recruiting companies to participate in the capacity-building program 'KOICA CTS Seed 0' aimed at prospective entrepreneurs and early-stage startups.

The CTS program is operated with the purpose of solving complex social and environmental issues in developing countries by combining Official Development Assistance (ODA) with innovative private sector technologies, and expanding global market opportunities for domestic companies. The 'CTS Seed 0' program, in particular, is a global capacity-building program for prospective entrepreneurs and early-stage startups aiming to solve social problems in developing countries using innovative technologies.

The recruitment fields include a total of 10 areas: △Education △Health △Rural Development △Water △Transport △Urban △Digital △Energy △Climate Action △Humanitarian Assistance. The target countries are a total of 43, including 14 countries in Asia, 5 in Eurasia, 15 in Africa, 7 in Latin America, and 2 in the Middle East, where KOICA offices or representatives are located.

Domestic companies selected for the support project can receive assistance in establishing a roadmap for entering target countries through connections with local accelerators (AC) and investment institutions, as well as specialized mentoring for each company. Five outstanding teams will be given the opportunity to establish practical cooperative relationships through on-site visits to the project target countries and MOU signings, and will receive additional points in the document review for the future Seed 1 competition.

Past participants in KOICA CTS Seed 0 include SixtyHertz (developer of the AI-based virtual power plant operation solution 'Energy Scrum'), Weplat (developer of the AI-IoT intelligent leakage management system 'NELLOW'), AVALVE (developer of container-type AI smart farm solutions), and MFM (developer of chitosan-based functional bio-fertilizers).

This support project will select a total of 25 domestic companies. Any prospective entrepreneur, social enterprise within 7 years of establishment, or early-stage startup with innovative technology, business, or project plans that can lead to local development in developing regions can apply. The application deadline is the 24th of this month.

The CTS Seed 0 briefing and consulting sessions will be held twice, organized by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and jointly operated by MY Social Company (MYSC) and KAIST Venture Investment (KVI). The first briefing session will take place on the 10th at 1 PM at Dreamplus Gangnam in Seoul, and the second session will be held on the 14th at 1 PM at SV Ground in Daejeon. Detailed information can be found on the 'Institutional Competition' bulletin board on the KOICA website.

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