115 Billion Invested to Support Commercialization of Small and Medium Environmental Enterprises: "Committed to Being a Growth Stepping Stone"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment, together with the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, will promote the 'Small and Medium Environmental Enterprises Commercialization Support Project' this year with a total budget of 11.496 billion KRW to support the growth of small and medium environmental companies possessing excellent environmental technologies.

This year's project scale has increased by approximately 138% compared to last year's 4.83 billion KRW, and the maximum support amount per company has also been raised from 200 million KRW last year to 330 million KRW.

From the 30th of this month until the 13th of next month, companies wishing to participate can apply online through the commercialization support system (support.keiti.re.kr), and after a selection evaluation, support will be provided for up to 15 months starting in April.

The commercialization support project consists of two sectors: development promotion and investment attraction. Through this, it is expected that small and medium environmental companies will be able to quickly resolve obstacles encountered during the commercialization process.

The development promotion sector has a budget of 11.2 billion KRW and supports 35 companies by providing funds required for commercialization such as prototype production and improvement, thereby laying the foundation for corporate growth. Consulting linked with nine specialized institutions in areas such as commercialization strategy establishment and private investment attraction education will be supported to enhance companies' self-sustainability and their ability to attract funds at each growth stage.

The investment attraction sector has a budget of 300 million KRW and plans to support a total of 50 companies by promoting domestic environmental business development and expanding overseas market entry through attracting private investment funds and investor discovery activities.

Additionally, this project supports commercialization not only for technologies developed directly by companies but also for transferred technologies, and a separate budget is allocated for linked support with environmental technology research and development (R&D). It aims to enhance companies' technological innovation capabilities and lead early commercialization of environmental technology achievements.

A new 'technology introduction type' field has been established in the development promotion sector. It aims to shorten the commercialization period by supporting optimization and market-customized commercialization of technologies transferred from non-profit institutions such as universities. If necessary, applicants can form a consortium with the non-profit institution that transferred the technology.

Of the 11.2 billion KRW development promotion budget, 4 billion KRW will be used to support environmental technology R&D to help the results spread in the market.

The Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute will hold a project briefing session on the 21st at the Yonsei Severance Building in Jung-gu, Seoul, to enhance companies' understanding through project guidance, application methods and form writing education, and one-on-one consultations.

Kim Dong-gu, Director of Environmental Economic Policy at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "Between technology development and mass production of prototypes lies the valley of death, and between breaking even and industrialization lies Darwin's sea," adding, "We will do our best to serve as a stepping stone to help small and medium environmental companies overcome these commercialization challenges."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.