Ministry of SMEs and Startups Launches Matching Loan Program for Small Business Owners

Operator's 'Invest First, Recommend Later' Approach
Support of Up to 500 Million KRW per Investment

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is nurturing entrepreneurial small business owners into 'Raikon' through complex financing for small merchants.

On the 24th, the Ministry announced the full-scale implementation of the 'Private Investment-Linked Matching Loan' project.

The matching loan project, known as 'LIPSⅠ,' involves an operator designated by the Ministry making an 'advance investment, then recommendation' to small merchants, after which the Ministry matches and supports the policy funds.

This year, the Ministry will inject a total of 40 billion KRW in investment-matching policy funds. Small merchants with growth potential will be discovered through private sector capabilities and nurtured into lifestyle innovation companies and local brands called Raikon.

In particular, this year, synergy between the two projects will be enhanced through linkage with the new project 'Innovative Small Merchant Investment-Linked Support (LIPSⅡ)'.

Small merchants wishing to participate should first receive investment and funding from an operator designated by the Ministry, then submit the advance investment recommendation letter issued by the operator to the Small Enterprise and Market Service. Afterwards, by applying for policy funds online, the Ministry will support up to 2.5 to 5 times the invested amount (up to 500 million KRW).

Lee Dae-geon, Director of Small Business Policy, emphasized, "We will actively support small merchants to grow beyond small and medium enterprises into large and medium-sized enterprises by utilizing the private sector's discovery and nurturing capabilities and establishing a creative and new form of complex financing that matches private and government funds."

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