Emerging Nonprofits Drive Social Innovation with Startup Models

Asan Nanum Foundation Supports Accelerated Growth of 8 Nonprofit Startups Leading Social Innovation The Asan Nanum Foundation (Chairperson Eom Yoon-mi) signed an agreement on the 15th with 8 innovative nonprofit organizations finally selected for the 2025 'Asan Nonprofit Startup' program's growth track, thus embarking on full-scale support for the creation of a social innovation ecosystem. This program, targeting early-stage nonprofit organizations and entities established within 7 years, is generating significant anticipation as it integrates startup growth strategies into the nonprofit sector to propose new models for solving social problems. The organizations selected for this growth track present creative solutions to challenges across various parts of society. Specifically, ▲**Stair Breaker Club** aims to expand freedom of movement for all by normalizing accessibility information collection and improving app usability, while ▲**Dream-Building School** develops complex educational programs to save small schools at risk of closure and spread local value. ▲**NEWWAVES** connects 2030 political media with a network of young politicians to realize practical problem-solving politics in local councils, and ▲**Lovely Paper** contributes to improving the quality of life for elderly waste paper collectors by establishing a data-driven appropriate support system. Furthermore, ▲**Springshine** builds an online and agent-based gallery model to distribute the works of talented artists with developmental disabilities in the art market, and ▲**Ocean Campus** takes the lead in solving the problem of marine desertification through a sea forest restoration process involving citizens. ▲**JAEWON (Resources)** discovers cases of utilizing dormant resources by organization type, developing and disseminating educational modules, and ▲**Small Actions to Protect Earth** conducts a citizen-participatory resource circulation campaign to solve the coffee grounds waste problem in Jeju Island. The 8 selected organizations will receive diverse acceleration benefits over the next six months to expand their innovative social impact. This includes a total of 65 million won in project funding, customized team mentoring, startup-specific strategic consulting, and even the opportunity to use 'Maru Seed Zone' as a short-term office space. Notably, at the 'Nonprofit Startup Conference' to be held in the second half of the year, each team will share the achievements and insights of their social problem-solving projects, and a platform will be provided to discuss sustainable growth strategies for nonprofit startups. Seok Da-hyun, CEO of Ocean Campus, which was consecutively selected for the challenge track last year and the growth track this year, stated, "As an early-stage nonprofit organization, we anticipate sustainable growth and a significant leap forward," expressing their determination to expand social impact by adopting startup growth strategies for social problem-solving. Park Sung-jong, Team Leader of the Social Innovation Team at Asan Nanum Foundation, emphasized, "We will provide unsparing support to enable nonprofit startups to unleash their capabilities and expand their social impact in an optimal environment," expressing strong expectations for this program to accelerate social innovation.