The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held the ‘TOPS AWARDS’ at the Kensington Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, on December 16, presided over by Vice Minister Lee Byung-kwon. This event was organized to reward small business owners and implementing agencies who achieved excellent results through the ‘Online Brand Small Business Development Project (TOPS)’ and to spread the project’s achievements.
TOPS is a project where 10 top-tier platforms in various fields discover promising brand small businesses and support them with step-by-step online sales channels. In 2025, a total of 3,022 companies were discovered and supported through public-private 1:1 matching. Platforms provided additional support using their infrastructure in addition to government budget input.
The event was divided into two parts: the first part was a pitching competition for small businesses, and the second part was an award ceremony and performance sharing session. In the pitching competition, 10 ‘TOP-STAR’ companies, selected from 30 ‘TOPS of the Year’ companies, presented their products and marketability, and the final rankings were determined through Q&A with evaluation committee members. The first place was awarded to ‘(주)호재에프에스’, which improved brand awareness and sales through Gmarket’s specialized program.
In the second part, Kakao and Grip presented the results of their platform-specific programs and successful small business growth cases. Kakao shared the achievements of its Tokdeal planning exhibition and Kakao Shopping Live production and exposure support, while Grip presented cases of fandom formation and sales expansion through its live and short-form integrated branding program. A total of 15 awards, including the Minister of SMEs and Startups commendation, were presented at the award ceremony.