Ministry of Science and ICT Launches 'NEST' Deep-Tech Commercialization Support Council

"Comprehensive Support From Public Technology Discovery to Startup Creation and Investment"

The Ministry of Science and ICT has launched a public-private partnership system to support deep-tech startups and commercialization efforts that leverage public research achievements from universities and government-funded research institutes.

On May 21, the Ministry announced that it held an inaugural ceremony for the “Deep-Tech Commercialization Support Council (NEST)” at the Peace & Park Convention in Seoul.

Koo Hyuk-chae, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, is delivering a greeting at an event. Photo is not directly related to the article. Photo by Yonhap News Agency.

NEST (Network for Expansion in Science & Technology Transfer) is a council that establishes a collaborative network between technology commercialization specialist companies and company builders to promote the dissemination of outstanding public technologies from universities and government-funded research institutes.

The council comprises a total of 13 organizations, including three technology commercialization specialist companies and ten company builders. University technology holding companies, subsidiaries of government-funded research institutes, and private accelerators (ACs) are also participating, aiming to support the full commercialization process—from discovering public technologies to startup creation, incubation, and investment linkages.

The technology commercialization specialist companies include Yonsei University Technology Holdings, Korea University of Science and Technology Holdings, and Bluepoint Partners. Among the company builders are Seoul National University Technology Holdings, Korea University Technology Holdings, Kyungpook National University Technology Holdings, Hanyang University ERICA Technology Holdings, ETRI Holdings, KIST Innovation, and CNT Tech.

Connecting University and Government-Funded Technologies to Startups and Investments

The council focuses on building practical cooperation models, such as joint startups and investments, project planning, and technology discovery linkages, by utilizing the investment capabilities and networks of each participating organization.

In particular, the initiative aims to strengthen support systems so that public technologies owned by universities and government-funded research institutes go beyond remaining as papers or patents, and instead lead to actual market entry and business growth.

The Ministry of Science and ICT expects that the council will serve not merely as a network but as a core platform that enhances the overall capabilities of the public technology commercialization ecosystem.

The launch ceremony was attended by Goo Hyukchae, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, representatives from the 13 participating organizations, and officials from the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology Commercialization. The event included the awarding of plaques to selected organizations and discussions on directions for cooperation and joint commercialization strategies for each institution.

Vice Minister Goo stated, "It is important to connect good technologies with the market so that they can lead to startups, investment, and growth," adding, "We hope that NEST will establish itself as a robust partnership system supporting the growth and market entry of startups based on public research achievements."

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