200 Billion Invested This Year to Foster 'Sanae Venture'... Recruiting Operating Companies

Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that it is recruiting operating companies for the '2020 In-house Venture Promotion Program,' which aims to spread a creative organizational culture through in-house ventures and lead private-sector-driven open innovation startups.

This in-house venture promotion program is a public-private cooperative startup support project where large, medium-sized, small, and public enterprises utilize their innovation capabilities to nurture in-house venture teams and spin-off startup companies, with the government supporting commercialization. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been operating this program since 2018.

Operating companies refer to large, medium-sized, small enterprises and public enterprises that have in-house venture support systems, support personnel, and resources, and nurture in-house venture teams or engage in win-win cooperation activities with spin-off startup companies.

So far, 75 companies have been selected as operating companies and are fostering in-house ventures (16 large enterprises, 15 medium-sized enterprises, 28 small enterprises, and 16 public enterprises). Through this, a total of 265 startup teams have been discovered and supported.

Government support includes commercialization funding (100 million KRW), follow-up support after commercialization such as product development and strategic marketing (up to 200 million KRW), and connection with dedicated accelerators.

This year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to invest a budget of 20 billion KRW to support about 200 in-house venture teams and spin-off startup companies (teams). Eligible applicants are in-house venture teams and startups within three years of spin-off.

Applications for operating companies will be accepted from the 11th of this month until the 1st of next month. Detailed information regarding the application can be found on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups website or the K-Startup website.

Yoon Seok-bae, Head of the Startup Ecosystem Formation Division, said, "We hope for active interest and participation from companies seeking to discover future growth engines through commercialization using innovative ideas."

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