Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups Listens to On-site Challenges of 'Big 3' Promising Startup Companies

100 Promising Startup Companies Newly Selected in System Semiconductors, Biohealth, and Future Cars Sectors

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Kwon Chil-seung, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) announced on the 6th that it held a meeting with the CEOs of six promising startup companies newly selected for this year's 'Big 3 Innovation Sector Startup Package (hereinafter Big 3 Project)' at Atomos located in Seongnam City.

Since selecting 250 companies in 2020, a total of 100 new companies have been selected this time for the second round. Companies selected for the Big 3 Project, which supports fields such as system semiconductors, bio-health, and future cars, receive up to 600 million KRW in startup commercialization funds over three years, along with linked support for technology development (R&D) and policy funds.

Among the 100 newly selected companies, 22 were selected in connection with winners from programs such as the Large-Star Solver, Benz Startup Autobahn, and Hyundai Motor Zero One Accelerator startup discovery programs, while 78 companies were selected through public recruitment announcements.

By sector, 14 companies in system semiconductors, 55 in bio-health, and 31 in future cars newly participate. Including existing companies, the Big 3 Project in 2022 supports a total of 346 companies.

So far, the Big 3 Project has selected 250 promising startups and provided over 100 billion KRW in commercialization support, technology development (R&D), loans, and guarantees. Participating companies showed more than a 20% increase in sales, employment, and investment compared to the previous year, and demonstrated achievements such as active collaboration with large and medium-sized enterprises, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and listing on KOSDAQ.

The CEOs who participated in the meeting expressed that in advanced fields like the Big 3, the time and cost required for technology advancement and testing/certification pose a significant burden on startups, and requested expanded government support. They also conveyed that the Big 3 sectors have a convergent nature where industrial classification becomes ambiguous during development, so discovering various demand companies and supporting collaboration is necessary.

In response, Minister Kwon Chil-seung stated that reflecting industry opinions, from this year onward, not only technical support but also the selection of specialized support organizations and accelerators will be strengthened to enhance investment attraction and collaboration with global companies. Minister Kwon emphasized, "We will expand overseas expansion support and strive to improve regulations that hinder the growth of Big 3 startups, which will be future growth engines, so that they can grow into global innovative companies."

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