Supporting Green Companies from Startup to Overseas Expansion... Government Aims to Create "Green Unicorn"

Ministry of Environment and Ministry of SMEs Launch 'Green New Deal Promising Companies 100' Ceremony
Announce Plans to Foster Green Startups and Ventures... Establish Full-Cycle Support System
300 Billion Venture Fund, 2.4 Trillion Financial Support... Special Zones and Cluster Development

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government plans to select 100 promising green companies by 2022 and provide each company with more than 3 billion KRW in funding. The goal is to support these companies from the startup phase through growth and overseas expansion, ultimately creating 'Green Unicorns' with a corporate value exceeding 1 trillion KRW.

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a launch ceremony on the 3rd at POSCO Changeup Ground in Seoul, inviting 41 companies selected for the '100 Promising Green New Deal Companies' support project.

The '100 Promising Green New Deal Companies' project selects 100 promising companies in the environment and energy sectors by 2022 and provides linked support such as funding, funds, guarantees, and policy funds for technology development and commercialization. A total of 3 billion KRW plus alpha will be supported over three years. This year, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected 21 and 20 companies respectively, totaling 41 companies.

Establishing a full-cycle support system from startup to overseas expansion

At the launch ceremony, the 'Green Startup and Venture Promotion Plan,' which includes support policies for companies in the environment and energy sectors, was also announced.

This plan concretizes the green company development tasks included in the Green New Deal measures and links and utilizes existing policy tools. It focuses on ▲establishing a full-cycle support system from startup → growth → globalization ▲creating a cluster-centered ecosystem to promote collaboration and innovation activities between companies and support organizations ▲expanding growth infrastructure such as regulatory and institutional improvements for green companies.

Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups Photo by Yonhap News

A new 'Green Startup 2000' program will be launched to discover 2,000 green startups by 2025 and support education, commercialization, and investment attraction.

Additionally, about 300 billion KRW worth of dedicated venture funds for green companies will be created, including the Future Environmental Industry Investment Fund (215 billion KRW, Ministry of Environment) and the Green Fund within Smart Korea (100 billion KRW, Ministry of SMEs and Startups), focusing investments on promising green companies.

Measures to strengthen growth support include ▲pilot purchases by national and public institutions and excellent national research and development (R&D) ▲100 Promising Green New Deal Companies ▲financial support amounting to 2.4 trillion KRW ▲training 20,000 customized personnel for company sites and establishing smart eco-factories.

Support measures for overseas expansion include ▲targeting overseas markets using infrastructure and cooperation channels of large corporations and public enterprises ▲expanding official development assistance (ODA) programs and supporting the activation of new project orders through multilateral development banks.

Cluster establishment and special zone expansion... "Supporting 10,000 companies, creating 25,000 jobs"

To promote collaboration and innovation activities among green companies, an ecosystem centered on concentrated areas will be created.

To focus on nurturing five leading green sectors?clean air, bio-materials, thermal energy, future waste resources, and resource circulation?'Green Convergence Clusters' will be established in five regions. Additionally, 'Green Startup Towns' will be created in urban transit areas, and nurturing programs for company support will be prepared.

By 2025, more than five additional green special zones will be designated, increasing the current nine zones to 14. Dedicated R&D and regulatory free zone funds (about 35 billion KRW) will also be created and operated to establish growth foundations for companies within the zones.

Furthermore, referencing the concepts and classification standards of green finance used in the European Union (EU) and others, a Korean-style green finance classification system will be established. Legal revisions to clarify the concept of green companies will be pursued, and statistics will be supplemented through surveys and other means.

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups expect that with the implementation of this plan, more than 10,000 green SMEs, including 2,000 new green startups by 2025, will receive government support, and approximately 25,000 new green jobs will be created.

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae stated, "Based on this plan, we will actively support SMEs leading the green industry to achieve innovative growth and establish a systematic support system so that green unicorn companies with a corporate value exceeding 1 trillion KRW can emerge."

He added, "In cooperation with related ministries such as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, we will continuously implement green transition and green industry innovation policies in the economy and society so that promising Green New Deal companies can confidently enter the global green market."

Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun said, "The role of green startups and SMEs is becoming increasingly important for responding to the climate crisis and rapidly transitioning to a low-carbon economy. With the implementation of this plan, a growth ladder connecting green startups to green unicorns will be created, and new jobs will also be generated."

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