Startup 'Odeoui Jeoju' Curse Lifted... National Assembly and Government Provide 1.4 Trillion Won Policy Support

The National Assembly and the government have decided to take action to break the so-called "Order Curse," which has become an obstacle to the promotion of domestic startups.

On the 15th, Jeong Cheong-rae, Chairman of the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee, stated at the "National Assembly MWC 2023" held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, "We will support startups with 1.4 trillion won in policy funds that can be used to break the Order Curse."

The Order Curse is a term commonly used in the domestic startup industry, referring to situations where, despite receiving increasing orders from overseas buyers due to recognized technological capabilities, startups give up on accepting orders because payment timings do not align.

The 1.4 trillion won fund is a venture fund that the Ministry of SMEs and Startups decided to invest about 700 billion won in and establish through the 2023 second regular call for contributions to the mother fund, together with eight government ministries including the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) in March. MSIT plans to contribute 36 billion won to create a total of 60 billion won in funds, including a 40 billion won metaverse technology-based enterprise investment fund, a 10 billion won public technology commercialization fund, and a 10 billion won new space fund related to aerospace.

Chairman Jeong urged, "I hope MSIT listens to the incredible reality of startups that should be hitting the jackpot but instead go bankrupt when they gain attention."

Lee Jong-ho, Minister of MSIT, said, "We will make multifaceted efforts to maintain global competitiveness in the ICT sector and advance as a leading country, and we will work harder to cooperate with the National Assembly and communicate with companies to provide institutional support and financial assistance."

Park Yoon-kyu, 2nd Vice Minister of MSIT, also said, "I am confident that ICT technology will be the foundation for shaping the future of the Republic of Korea," and added, "We will strive to fulfill the promises mentioned by Chairman Jeong."

Meanwhile, the "National Assembly MWC 2023," held under the theme "Dreaming of the Future of ICT New Technologies," was organized to revisit the excellent technologies of Korean companies that participated in the international mobile technology exhibition (MWC 2023) held in Barcelona, Spain, from February 27 to March 2.

At the "Participating Companies Exhibition" held that day, 21 domestic companies showcased core technologies in mobile communications such as 5G and 6G, as well as various platforms, services, content, software, and devices integrated with mobile communications.

Samsung exhibited Portrait Studio and 5G base station equipment, KT displayed artificial intelligence (AI) robots and communication coverage expansion technologies, and SKT showcased a UAM simulator and models.

Additionally, four small and medium-sized enterprises including Sollid and startups such as Ucast participated, presenting various technologies ranging from distributed antenna systems and quantum communication simulators to smartphone eavesdropping prevention technologies, autonomous patrol robots, AI adult care services, and video conferencing solutions.

At the "National Assembly MWC Seminar," the latest corporate and technology trends from CES 2023 and MWC 2023, successful cases of 5G research and development, the vision and R&D promotion plans for 6G, successful 5G cases from leading domestic companies, and the direction for promoting next-generation network (6G) industrial technology development projects planned by MSIT were introduced.

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