The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said on the 4th that it held the Honam-region "Welcome to TIPS" event at the Gwangju Bitgoeul Startup Station.
TIPS is a public-private startup support program in which, when a private operator selects and invests in startup companies by leveraging its expertise and capabilities, the government provides linked support such as research and development (R&D) and startup commercialization funds. So far, more than 370 startup companies have participated and have attracted more than 17 trillion won in follow-on investment.
The event brought together about 100 promising technology startups in the Honam region hoping to join TIPS and TIPS operators for direct exchanges, and was prepared to spread investment opportunities concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area to the regions.
On the day, promising startups in the Honam region held an investment briefing for TIPS operators. Corporations selected in on-site evaluations received prize money. Going forward, together with corporations selected in the southeast, Chungcheong, and Daegu-Gyeongbuk regions, they will take the integrated final stage at year's end and again hold investment briefings in front of investors nationwide.
In addition, exchange programs continued, including an operator briefing where TIPS operators introduced their main investment areas and strategies, investment-attraction networking between corporations hoping to join TIPS and operators, and mentoring by senior TIPS corporations.
Cho Kyung-won, director-general for startup policy at the MSS, said, "I hope that meetings with TIPS operators became a stepping stone for growth toward a bigger leap for startups in the Honam region," and added, "We will spread the region's startup fervor through programs such as Welcome to TIPS by region."