Ministry of SMEs and Startups Expands Scale-up TIPS Operators to 83, Introduces Open Competition

On-site Scale-up TIPS Roundtable Held

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on April 23 that it held an on-site Scale-up TIPS roundtable discussion with Scale-up TIPS operators and local business stakeholders under the theme "Regional Innovation and Investment! Growth Created Together+".

Participants are taking a group photo at last year's Scale-up TIPS Networking Day. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Scale-up TIPS is a private-sector-led growth support policy designed to help promising companies in the deep tech sector—those that possess high-value-added technologies—overcome the so-called "death valley" of early-stage funding difficulties and become global market leaders. This year, the Ministry has expanded its support scale from the previous 1.2–1.5 billion won to a maximum of 2–6 billion won.

While the original TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup) program focused on "startups," Scale-up TIPS emphasizes "growth (Scale-up)." Under this model, private operators make initial investments in promising companies, and the government follows up by providing research and development as well as commercialization funding. This marks a shift from a government-led selection process to one that leverages market expertise. Notably, by encouraging joint investment from both the public and private sectors in companies with proven technologies, the program amplifies the investment effect and stimulates the inflow of private capital, thereby supporting the growth of deep tech companies.

This roundtable was organized as a follow-up to the "Scale-up TIPS Investment Consultation Meeting" held in Daejeon on April 6. The goal was to gather a wide range of on-the-ground feedback to further invigorate regional investment and enhance Scale-up strategies. The event was attended by around 20 participants, including First Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Noh Yongseok, as well as representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises, venture companies, and operating firms, who engaged in policy discussions.

This year, the number of Scale-up TIPS operators will be expanded from the current 24 to 83 to accommodate the larger scale of support. In addition, an integrated online and offline investment linkage system will be established, introducing an open competition framework.

Furthermore, specialized operators will be designated for national strategic technology sectors such as "ABCDEF" (AI, Bio, Content, Defense, Energy, Smart Factory). The program will also build a specialized support system for strategic sectors, reflecting each ministry's key technologies and policy needs. For regional companies, requirements for initial investment will be eased, and more than 50% of all TIPS-style R&D projects will be allocated to them.

Noh Yongseok, First Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We will actively incorporate the various on-site challenges and ideas proposed during today's policy discussion into our policies. We will focus our efforts to ensure that Scale-up TIPS research and development firmly establishes itself as a flagship policy brand that not only drives innovative growth for regional companies but also leads their entry into overseas markets."

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