Sejong CCEI (세종 창조경제혁신센터): SK's Second Centre, and What It Actually Funds
세종 창조경제혁신센터
Sejong CCEI opened 2015-06-30 with SK as its 전담 대기업 — the only company holding two centres, alongside Daejeon. Its published fields are AI·빅데이터 and 기능성 바이오, and it sits in 조치원, not beside the government complex.
Sejong is the centre most often described wrongly in English, and the reason is guessable. The city is Korea's administrative capital, so writers assume the centre does GovTech; the region is farmland, so they assume smart agriculture.
KISED's own record says neither. The two published fields are AI and big data, and functional bio.
The SK double
SK is the 전담 대기업 for Daejeon and for Sejong. Every other company in the network holds exactly one centre.
That matters when you are choosing where to apply. The two centres sit forty minutes apart with the same corporate partner and different mandates: Daejeon is space and defence, Sejong is AI and functional bio.
| Dimension | Value as published by KISED |
|---|---|
| 전담 대기업 | SK |
| 특화분야 | AI·빅데이터, 기능성 바이오 |
| 출범일 | 2015-06-30 |
| 주소 | 세종특별자치시 조치원읍 군청로 93, SB플라자 3층 |
| Operator type | Government-designated |
Jochiwon, not the government complex
The address is in Jochiwon, the older town in the north of Sejong, inside SB플라자. The ministry buildings most people picture are a different part of the city.
Frequently asked questions
- Which company is Sejong CCEI's 전담 대기업?
- SK. KISED's centre dataset lists SK for both Daejeon and Sejong, which makes SK the only company holding two centres in the network. Published listings that name Hanwha are confusing Sejong with Chungnam.
- What does Sejong CCEI actually specialise in?
- Two fields: AI·빅데이터 and 기능성 바이오 (functional bio). Smart-farm and GovTech framings are what the city's name suggests, not what the centre is designated for.
- Where is Sejong CCEI?
- 세종특별자치시 조치원읍 군청로 93, SB플라자 3층. That is Jochiwon in the north of the city, not the ministry complex in the centre — a real difference if you are planning a visit around a meeting at a ministry.
- When did it launch?
- 2015-06-30, the fifteenth of the nineteen centres to open. Only Ulsan, Incheon, Seoul and the privately operated Bitgaram came later.
- Does the SK pairing mean SK funds the startups?
- 전담 대기업 is a designated corporate partnership, not a funding guarantee. Treat it as who is at the table, and read the individual 모집공고 for what is actually paid.
- Is it open to foreign founders?
- CCEI calls run 연중수시 — rolling through the year — and the eligibility line in each 모집공고 decides, not nationality by default. Read 대상 and 창업업력 on the specific call.
Sources
- 창업진흥원_창조경제혁신센터 데이터 현황_20260604 — KISED's centre dataset: 전담 대기업, 출범일, 지역, 주소 and 특화분야 for all 19 centres — read 2026-09-01
- CCEI unified portal — centre directory and notices — read 2026-09-01
- KISED, 창업 인프라 — states 전국 19개 창조경제혁신센터 and the centre contact directory — read 2026-09-01
Everything above is the rule as published. See how it applies to your case.