Pohang City’s Youth-Friendly SME Research Town Project Finally Selected by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

On August 26, Pohang City announced that its "Small and Medium Business Research Town Development Project," which aims to foster growth in key regional industries and nurture young talent, has passed the feasibility review by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and has been finally selected.

Pohang City was finally selected by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for the Small and Medium Business Research Town Development Project and is taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Pohang City

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This project aims to cluster research institutes of small and medium-sized enterprises in key regional industries and create a research town where industry, academia, and research institutes can collaborate.

The city plans to develop an urban research cluster centered around the research town, which will simultaneously support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and the retention of young talent, and focus on fostering it as a regional R&D hub.

Aerial view of the Small and Medium Business Research Town.

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The Small and Medium Business Research Town, which is being jointly developed by North Gyeongsang Province, Pohang City, and POSTECH, will be built in Jigok-dong, Nam-gu, with one basement floor and six above-ground floors, and a total floor area of 5,300 pyeong. The total project cost is 70 billion won (25 billion won in national funds, 25 billion won in local funds, and 20 billion won in private investment), and design work is scheduled to begin in 2026.

The research town, a new model of public rental knowledge industry centers, is similar to existing knowledge industry centers in that it supports new startups and small and medium-sized enterprises with affordable rents. However, it is differentiated by the establishment of a shared equipment center based on state-of-the-art infrastructure and the inclusion of an industry-academia collaboration open lab involving local companies, universities, and anchor companies.

The research town will feature: ▲ the first floor as an open space for citizens, promoting coexistence and mutual growth in the region; ▲ the second and third floors will house 70 enterprise offices (based on 25 square meters each) dedicated to the public rental knowledge industry center function; ▲ the fourth floor will serve as a shared equipment center, leveraging advanced infrastructure to increase scaling-up success rates and shorten the time to mass production; ▲ the fifth and sixth floors will be joint research industry-academia collaboration open labs for local companies, universities, and large corporations, aiming for early commercialization by matching technologies in key regional industries such as secondary batteries, biotechnology, semiconductors, and hydrogen.

Pohang City, which has about 280 companies across 15 startup support institutions such as Pohang Technopark, Knowledge Industry Center, Change Up Ground, and the Membrane Protein Research Institute, will support the scaling up of key regional industries through the establishment of the research town. POSTECH will lead regional R&D, support the scaling up of startups, and assist young talent in employment and entrepreneurship, thereby establishing a virtuous cycle of regional innovation through cooperation between the city and the university.

Through this, Pohang is expected to serve as a global innovation growth hub for national strategic industries. The expansion of research institutes, companies, universities, and national strategic industry specialized complexes into a "Startup Pacific Valley" will help create a city environment conducive to venture businesses and open new pathways for the local economy.

Mayor Lee Kangdeok stated, "With the construction of the research town, we will address the growing demand for technology-based startups and enterprise occupancy in our region, and devote all our efforts to nurturing promising startups and strengthening the capabilities of local companies. Based on our prepared competitiveness and capabilities, we will create global business opportunities and enhance Pohang’s brand value as a core venture city."

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