'Green Venture' Supports SMEs with up to 3 Billion KRW

Application Company Competition Rate 14.5 to 1

Source=Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 18th that it will provide policy funds of up to 3 billion KRW for a maximum of three years to small and medium-sized ventures selected as 'Green Ventures.'

This Green Venture support program was established to discover and nurture small and medium enterprises that develop and commercialize green technologies. Selected companies will receive funds necessary for research and development (R&D) and commercialization through a dedicated project.

For the 2020 Green Venture program, which closed applications on the 10th, 290 small and medium ventures applied, recording a competition rate of 14.5 to 1. By technology field, the highest number of applications were in 'Environmental Protection and Conservation' at 23.8% (69 companies), followed by 'Green Information and Communication Technology (ICT)' at 23.1% (67 companies), and 'Renewable Energy' at 10.7% (31 companies).

By business age, 'less than 3 years since establishment' accounted for 17.9% (52 companies), and '3 years or more but less than 7 years' accounted for 30.0% (87 companies). About half of the applicant companies were startups less than 7 years old. By company size (based on sales), 'less than 2 billion KRW' accounted for 49.7% (144 companies), followed by '2 billion KRW or more but less than 10 billion KRW' at 31% (90 companies).

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups allocated 20.5 billion KRW in the third supplementary budget this year to support Green Ventures. Based on growth strategy documents submitted by companies during the Green Venture program application, a document review will be conducted, and companies that pass will undergo a discussion-style in-depth evaluation to supplement their R&D and commercialization plans before final selection.

The discussion-style in-depth evaluation will involve experts from industry, academia, and research institutes, commercialization experts, and a citizen evaluation group. The citizen evaluation group can apply starting from the 19th through the Small and Medium Business Comprehensive Management System website.

Yoon Saemyung, Director of Technology Development at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We expect the Green Venture companies selected this time to become the main players leading the future new growth engine, the 'Green New Deal.' Since this is an urgent initiative funded by the supplementary budget, we plan to complete the selection process quickly and announce the final selected companies by September."

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