North Gyeongsang technopark wraps startup camp, selects 7 teams for prototype support

Gyeongbuk Technopark announced Thursday that it has concluded its 2026 Bizcool Innovation Startup School camp — held in two sessions — and selected seven pre-startup teams to receive prototype development support.

The regional high school talent Bizcool project is hosted by North Gyeongsang Province and carried out by Gyeongbuk Technopark.

This year's Innovation Startup School camp drew more than 100 aspiring young entrepreneurs from 13 vocational high schools across the province and was held in two separate rounds.

The first session ran from July 13 to 15 at Sono Belle Cheongsong, with 51 students from eight schools — including Gyeongbuk Machinery and Metals High School and Gyeongju Girls' Information High School. The second session ran Monday through Wednesday at the Gyeongju Teachers' Dream Center, drawing about 50 students from five schools, including Gumi Girls' Commercial High School and Korea Semiconductor Meister High School.

Through a two-night, three-day intensive program, participants built entrepreneurial mindsets and completed a hands-on startup curriculum covering team building, design thinking, business model development and one-on-one expert mentoring.

On the final day of each camp, teams pitched their business ideas in a preliminary startup competition.

The seven selected teams will spend roughly three months working with dedicated startup mentors to plan and build their ideas into actual prototypes as part of an advanced work-experience project.

"This will be an opportunity for vocational high school students to go beyond the idea stage and experience real-world business firsthand," said Ha In-seong, president of Gyeongbuk Technopark. "We will continue to spare no effort in supporting students so that their fresh business ideas bear fruit as actual startups and contribute to regional development."