Support for Startup Investment in 75 Marine and Fisheries Companies This Year... Achievements of 44.6 Billion KRW in Sales and 107 New Jobs

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 29th that it has supported 75 entities through the 'Marine and Fisheries Startup Investment Support Project,' which discovers and nurtures (pre-)entrepreneurs and promising companies with excellent technology in the marine and fisheries sector this year, achieving sales of 44.6 billion KRW and creating 107 new jobs.

The Ministry selected the Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology Promotion (Director Cho Seung-hwan), a dedicated institution for marine and fisheries startups and investments, as the project executing agency. Since 2018, it has been promoting various support projects such as specialized incubation programs for startups, commercialization fund support, commercialization consulting support, and SME investment support programs.

As a major achievement, 27 teams participating in the 'Marine and Fisheries Accelerating' project, which discovers and provides comprehensive incubation support to prospective entrepreneurs or startups within three years, created various results including 50 new jobs, 4.4 billion KRW in investment attraction, and the establishment of 5 new corporations. Among them, Sheco developed a recovery robot for small-scale oil spill accidents, which account for 92% of marine oil spill incidents, and attracted an investment of 530 billion KRW.

Additionally, 18 beneficiary companies of the 'Startup Commercialization Fund Support,' which provides funds necessary for prototype production, promotion, marketing, and overseas expansion of startups, saw an average sales increase of 13% compared to the previous year. They also achieved 24 new job creations. In particular, the marine leisure company 'SubOne' created sneaker-shaped scuba shoes and recorded sales of 3 billion KRW by selling 900 sets since its launch in September this year.

Furthermore, through the consulting support program, 30 companies received one-on-one customized consulting on establishing business models for startups, marketing strategy development, financial analysis of SMEs, and investment attraction strategies. This resulted in achievements such as $100,000 in exports, about 10 cases of intellectual property creation and certification, and 5.4 billion KRW in investment attraction. Among them, Binsen, which develops and manufactures eco-friendly hybrid small vessels, received investment worth 3.25 billion KRW this year after receiving investment attraction consulting support.

Oh Young-rok, Director of the Marine Science and Technology Policy Division at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Despite the difficult times due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this year, we were able to confirm the infinite potential of marine and fisheries companies." He added, "We will continue to promote startup and investment support projects in the marine and fisheries sector to provide more opportunities for marine and fisheries companies to grow."

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