The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on September 9 that 32 startups had advanced from the newly established AI League and Innovation Startup League to K-Startup’s inter-ministerial integrated finals. Intellicia won the AI League grand prize for a synthetic-consumer market research solution, while The Ace Company took the Innovation Startup League grand prize for a video detection system designed to prevent semiconductor wafer process accidents. The AI League drew 344 applications and selected 10 finalists; the Innovation Startup League received 630 applications and selected 22. Intellicia was founded in 2025 by CEO Baek Seung-guk, who previously founded Dable, and uses AI personas trained on real consumer data to shorten market research. Aidol won the AI League excellence award for neuro-symbolic AI designed to prevent physical AI malfunctions, while Dearnyun received the Innovation Startup League excellence award for an AI agent supporting restaurant food-material orders. Including selections from other ministry-led leagues, 130 startups will participate in the integrated finals. The top 20 companies will advance to the championship round and compete for up to 500 million Korean won in prize money and preferential treatment in follow-up programs such as the Early Startup Package.