Kibo and Kijeongwon Select Final 40 Companies for 'BIRD Program'
Promoting Commercialization of R&D in Small and Medium Enterprises
Supporting Enhancement of Export Competitiveness
The Korea Technology Finance Corporation (Chairman Kim Jong-ho, hereinafter referred to as Kibo) announced on the 31st that it has selected 40 companies for the second phase of support through the final screening by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (hereinafter referred to as KIAT) from 48 companies selected in the first phase of the '2023 BIRD Program.'
The BIRD Program (Bridge for Innovative R&D) is a system designed to promote innovative growth and strengthen export competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by linking guarantees and grants so that SME research and development (R&D) achievements can be rapidly commercialized. It is a new method that continuously supports R&D funds step-by-step from research planning to commercialization.
Kibo and KIAT divided the program into three phases. ▲Phase 1: Kibo discovers and selects R&D projects and provides guarantee support ▲Phase 2: KIAT provides grants up to 1.6 billion KRW ▲Phase 3: Kibo continuously supports commercialization-linked funds. This is to effectively support SME R&D commercialization.
In this program, many excellent technology SMEs with sales of over 5 billion KRW and exports exceeding 1 million USD applied. Export-promising SMEs with export competitiveness were selected in the first phase and received guarantee support, and among them, 40 companies were selected for the second phase (R&D) grant support.
Companies selected for the second phase grant support will receive up to 1.6 billion KRW over four years after signing the agreement in August, and the third phase (Post-R&D) will provide commercialization funds to successful R&D companies so that excellent technologies can be immediately commercialized.
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Kim Jong-ho, Chairman of Kibo, said, "The BIRD Program is an innovative project that promotes high-growth scale-up of technology SMEs through a policy-mixed R&D full-cycle support system linking loans and grants. Going forward, Kibo will expand collaborative projects with related organizations and strengthen support for promising growth companies to lead the overcoming of the complex economic crisis by creating a private-led innovation growth ecosystem and securing export competitiveness of SMEs."
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