The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups has prepared a budget of 16.8449 trillion won for next year. This expanded budget shows its determination to invest in new growth areas such as deep tech and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as to support the revival and nurturing of entrepreneurs.
The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups announced that the budget for next year is set at 16.8449 trillion won, an increase of 1.5961 trillion won from this year's main budget of 15.2488 trillion won, and will be submitted to the National Assembly on the 3rd.
This budget is structured to focus investments in five key areas: advancing as a leading country in startups and ventures, transforming digitally and through AI, overcoming the crisis faced by small businesses, establishing regional corporate ecosystems, and developing a cooperative growth ecosystem.
The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups emphasized expanding venture investments for next year. It has designated a record budget of 1.1 trillion won for the fund-of-funds, allocating half to AI and deep tech. It will also establish a 'second chance fund' with an investment of 80 billion won, creating a total of 133.3 billion won, more than twice the size of this year.
The size of secondary funds that help existing investors sell their equity to other investors, as well as merger and acquisition (M&A) funds, will also be increased to invigorate the recovery market.
Kim Bong-duk, the venture policy director at the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups, said, "Including other ministries, this will reach a historically unprecedented scale of 2 trillion won," adding that it is aimed at facilitating the recovery of venture investments and nurturing innovative startups.
In collaboration with private venture capital, the government plans to establish a staged support system from startup to scale-up to global through 'TIPS-style research and development (R&D)' that provides research and development support.
The 'Unicorn Bridge' project to cultivate tech corporations with proven growth into global unicorns has also been newly established. The 'super-gap startup project' will expand to focus on supporting more than 1,000 innovative startups in ten emerging industries, including AI, biotech, and semiconductors, with up to 746 corporations receiving funding for commercialization, subsequent scale-up, R&D, and guarantees.
A total of 181.8 billion won will be injected to support the growth stages of prospective entrepreneurs and founding corporations holding innovative startup ideas, providing them with funding for commercialization and various startup programs, nurturing 1,723 companies.
R&D investment is also at a record high. The budget for next year is set at 2.1955 trillion won, a 45% increase from this year. It will allocate 129.9 billion won for 'public-private joint technology commercialization' R&D to expedite the transfer and commercialization of public research outcomes to the market, and will newly reflect 99 billion won for 'rapid commercialization of AI application products' for the transformation of the manufacturing sector.
The policy funds for small and medium enterprises are structured at a total of 4.1 trillion won, including 1.6358 trillion won for innovation startups, 1.1111 trillion won for new growth foundations, and 316.4 billion won for new market entry support, with a focus on supplying necessary corporations. New export support programs such as fostering the 'K-Beauty cluster' to support K-culture exports centered around K-beauty are also included.
Minister Han Seong-suk noted that "this budget proposal focuses on reinvesting the funds secured through rigorous expenditure restructuring into true growth areas," and said, "We will do our utmost to support small and medium enterprises and small business owners in overcoming difficult economic circumstances and growing stably."