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A dependable partner of Social Economy

Korea Social Enterprise
Promotion Agency

Support for Startups

Supporting certification

  • Social Venture Competition discovers creative social venture* ideas towards designing innovative models of social economy enterprises.

  • It aims to establish a broader foundation for social ventures and disseminating social economy values by raising interest in and awareness of social ventures.

* Social ventures are innovative enterprise models that offer solutions to social problems with a creative and enthusiastic venture mentality.

Supporting establishing social enterprise and cooperative

  • KoSEA runs a selective program to support those preparing to start social economy enterprises in the overall process, starting from realization of social purpose to turning the idea into a business.

  • The program offers space, funding, mentoring, training and other resources and support for social ventures and social enterprises in the growing stage.

Social Entrepreneur Academy

KoSEA runs a selective program to support those preparing to start social economy enterprises in the overall process, starting from realization of social purpose to turning the idea into a business.

Social Entrepreneur Academy - Social Economy Leadership course, Social Economy Startup course, Expertise course, Social Economy Camp, Training Program for Schoolteachers, Development of Standard Lesson Plans on the Social Economy, Online curriculum
Social Economy Leadership course A training program (non-degree) built on the education infrastructure at universities and designed to prepare future leaders for innovation and growth of the social economy.
Social Economy Startup
course		 Basic training and on-going support for those seeking to start a social economy enterprise.
Expertise course Aimed at developing experts in different subjects such as social services and urban regeneration to strengthen the human competency of social economy enterprise.
Social Economy Camp Informative learning program with hands-on experience for the youth aimed at advocating social values and raising awareness of the social economy.
Training Program for Schoolteachers Program for teachers of elementary, middle and high school, designed to boost their understanding of the social economy and learn relevant teaching methods and techniques.
Development of
Standard Lesson Plans
on the Social Economy		 Development of lesson plans to teach about the social economy, based on a nationwide survey on the current status of such education. Lessons are designed through collection and analysis of a variety of educational content.
Online curriculum Online learning programs that include basic courses on social enterprise for the general public and professional courses on different functions in social enterprises such as HR and marketing.

Supporting certification

Requirements for Certification of Social Enterprises

  1. 01.

    Type of organization

    A social enterprise must assume the form of an organization prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as a corporation or association as defined in the Civil Act, a company or limited partnership as defined in the Commercial Act, a corporation established under any Special Act, or a non-profit, non-governmental organization.

  2. 02.

    Employment of paid workers

    A social enterprise must employ paid workers and conduct business activities, such as production and sale of goods or services.

  3. 03.

    Social objectives

    A social enterprise’s primary objective must be to realize social objectives, such as enhancing quality of life for community residents by providing vulnerable social groups with social services or job opportunities, or by contributing to communities.

  4. 04.

    Decision-making structure involving interested parties

    A social enterprise must have a decision-making structure that facilitates participation of interested parties, such as service beneficiaries and employees.

  5. 05.

    Revenues generated through business activities

    A social enterprise must generate at least 50% of its labor expenses through business activities.

  6. 06.

    Adoption of bylaws

    A social enterprise must prepare articles of incorporation, bylaws, or similar regulations, as referred to in Article 9 of the Social Enterprise Promotion Act.

  7. 07.

    Use of profits for social objectives

    A social enterprise must use at least 2/3 of its profits towards realization of its social objectives, if it generates distributable profits for each fiscal year (applicable only to companies or limited partnerships as defined in the Commercial Act).