New Financial Support System Established to Expand National R&D Achievements to the Market

Partial Amendment to the Act on the Promotion of Technology Innovation for SMEs Approved at Cabinet Meeting

A new financial system will be established to support the immediate application of national research and development achievements to the industrial field.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that a partial amendment to the “Act on the Promotion of Technology Innovation for Small and Medium Enterprises,” which includes these provisions, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on May 20.

Until now, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have faced difficulties in securing funds for commercialization, as there has been a lack of financial support mechanisms to back up the achievements obtained through research and development or promising technologies transferred from public research institutions. Various surveys on technology commercialization have consistently highlighted the highest demand for “financial support based on technology assessment,” and the need to improve the system so that technological development achievements can actually lead to commercialization has been continuously raised.

This amendment expands the scope of support not only to SMEs but also to public research institutions. In addition, new financial support systems, such as commercialization guarantees and securitization guarantees, will be introduced to alleviate the financial burden that arises during the process of transferring national R&D outcomes to actual industries and markets.

In particular, the support targets will be specialized to include SMEs that are commercializing completed national R&D projects or commercializing technologies transferred from public research institutions. Furthermore, the guarantee limit will be set separately from existing policy guarantees, thereby expanding opportunities for companies to raise funds.

Unlike the existing method of evaluating at the company level, the commercialization guarantee will be differentiated by evaluating at the project outcome level. It will provide guarantees of up to 10 billion won, based on the amount required to commercialize the technology transferred to the company.

The securitization guarantee will be evaluated not only on the company's current sales but also on the future business potential and value of the technology. Based on this, the system will purchase corporate bonds or royalty bonds from public research institutions and then sell them on the market, so that the funds raised can be used for the company's commercialization expenses or for technology fee resources of public research institutions.

The amendment to the Act on the Promotion of Technology Innovation for Small and Medium Enterprises takes effect from today. The total support scale is 340 billion won, with 260 billion won allocated to commercialization guarantees and 80 billion won to securitization guarantees, and guarantees are expected to be provided as early as June. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups also plans to immediately push for the revision of the enforcement decree, including detailed standards, to swiftly respond to the financial support needs on the ground.

Hwang Youngho, Director-General for Technology Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “With this amendment, excellent technological development achievements will not go to waste but will lead to corporate growth and profit creation, and then be reinvested in technology development, creating a virtuous cycle that will further enhance the utilization and efficiency of national R&D outcomes.”

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