Art Management Support Center Holds 2026 Startup Competition Featuring Artel and Fantasia Label Winners

The Art Management Support Center (CEO Kim Jang-ho) held the ‘2026 Arts Industry Academy Startup Competition’ on October 2 at Art Korea Lab. The AI audio docent service Artel received the grand prize, and winning teams will receive support including short-term residency and follow-up mentoring at Art Korea Lab in 2027.

On October 2, at Art Korea Lab during the ‘2026 Arts Industry Academy Startup Competition,’ from left to right, Baijuna CEO Kim Jun-ah (Excellence Award), Artel CEO Baek Ji-min (Grand Prize), and Fantasia Label CEO Kim Ju-sang (Outstanding Award) pose for a commemorative photo.

[PEOPLEGATE] The Art Management Support Center (CEO Kim Jang-ho) held the ‘2026 Arts Industry Academy Startup Competition’ on October 2 at Art Korea Lab, where Artel, an AI audio docent production service led by CEO Baek Ji-min, won the grand prize. The Outstanding Award went to Fantasia Label (CEO Kim Ju-sang), and the Excellence Award was awarded to Baijuna (CEO Kim Jun-ah).

This competition was organized to share the concrete business ideas and achievements developed through the practical startup education program 'Art Business Challenge.' Eleven teams from the 10th and 11th cohorts, recognized for excellence, participated to introduce new business models in the arts sector.

AI docent, classical music content, and barrier-free content recognized in awards

Artel, the grand prize winner, provides an AI audio docent production service targeting commercial galleries and art fairs. They verified their minimum viable product (MVP) at 'Kiaf SEOUL 2026' by monitoring visitor access and retention rates.

Fantasia Label repackages classical artists’ music as Dolby Atmos-based classical intellectual property (IP), distributing it to global platforms and distributors. Baijuna is a platform that plans and produces performances and cultural arts content in a barrier-free format.

Scene from the 2026 Arts Industry Academy Startup Competition

The award-winning teams were evaluated for concretizing their business ideas based on methodologies learned during education and validating customer and market responses.

Alongside the three winning teams, the competition included participants such as Amado Art Space, Art Moem, Onum-ee, OPCL, Palette Music, Placement, Pickple, and Project VIVE.

2027 Art Korea Lab residency and follow-up mentoring linkage

Prize-winning teams received certificates and awards in the name of the Art Management Support Center CEO, along with opportunities for short-term residency at Art Korea Lab in 2027. The grand prize and outstanding award winners also enjoy exemption from document screening in the Center’s early startup support program.

The three awarded teams will be linked to further mentoring in business modeling and marketing to support their commercialization efforts.

The Art Business Challenge is a program cultivating prospective and early-stage entrepreneurs in the arts sector. Since its start in 2021, it has produced 140 trainees and discovered over 105 startup ideas.

Kim Jang-ho, CEO of the Art Management Support Center, said the competition was an occasion for prospective startup teams to share their developed ideas and discover new possibilities, expressing hope that entrepreneurial attempts in the arts will form a foundation for new markets and value creation.

The Arts Industry Academy operates 27 customized courses across four sectors: prospective workforce, startups, field workforce, and organizational management. More details are available at the Art Management Support Center websiteand Art Moa.

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Read the original Korean article on PEOPLEGATE