The government will put ventures at the center of the national growth strategy, foster 10,000 AI and deep tech startups by 2030, and create 50 unicorns and decacorns.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 18th announced a joint "Comprehensive plan to leap to the world's top four in ventures" with related ministries. Rather than stopping at supplementing individual fields or piecemeal tasks, this is the first comprehensive plan to reorganize the center of the national growth strategy around ventures from four perspectives: technology, regions, talent, and capital.
First, the government will strategically allocate part of the roughly 50,000 GPUs it secures for ventures' and startups' research and development and demonstration. By overhauling the policy paradigm around six strategic industries—AI, bio, content, defense, energy, and advanced manufacturing—it plans to foster 10,000 AI and deep tech startups by 2030. In addition, through the "next-generation unicorn discovery and fostering project," it will provide a total of 13.5 trillion won by 2030 via stage-by-stage investment and guarantees of up to 100 billion won per corporation, and will continue large-scale follow-on investment and financial support linked to the Public Growth Fund.
◇ Fostering AI and deep tech… "anyone can try starting up"
Open innovation will shift to a milestone approach tied to stage-by-stage performance, and collaboration hubs and performance-sharing models will be built to ensure that innovative ventures' technological achievements connect to the industrial market. In addition, the public procurement system for startup products will be expanded to include the products and services of venture corporations to spur entry by mid- to late-stage ventures into the public market (B2G).
Starting with Silicon Valley in the United States, startup and venture campuses will be established in major innovation hubs such as Tokyo, Singapore, London, and New York, and a global startup hub will be created in Seoul.
Support for re-startups that turn failure into an asset will also be strengthened. A "rechallenge support headquarters" will be launched, and a socially receptive culture toward trying again will be spread through 19 regional rechallenge comprehensive support centers nationwide. The government will pursue the creation of a 1 trillion won rechallenge fund by 2030, establish technology guarantees even for newly established corporations by founders who failed to repay guaranteed debt, and significantly lower the barriers to trying again after failure by expanding limits on joint liability in venture investment.
The government will also upgrade local venture innovation hubs. It will build 10 regional startup cities focusing on five poles and three specials. While expanding Startup Park, the regional startup hub, it will concentrate support for regional startup programs around the ChangKyung Center. It will also hold regional startup festivals by zone. When selecting TIPS, up to 50% will be preferentially allocated to regional corporations and investment requirements will be eased, and deep tech startup hubs and global startup centers linked to science and technology-focused universities such as KAIST will be expanded outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
Through the "startup for everyone project," in which any young person can participate, 1,000 prospective entrepreneurs will be discovered each year, and 100 startup rookies will be selected through stage-by-stage competitions to support commercialization and investment attraction. In addition, incentives will be strengthened to attract talent by allowing venture corporations to grant stock options by board resolution and expanding the limit below fair value from 500 million won to 2 billion won.
◇ Building a virtuous cycle ecosystem of investment, exit, and reinvestment
An investment platform in the era of the Mother Fund 2.0 in which everyone can participate will also be built. Dedicated public accounts for pension funds and retirement pensions will be created so the Mother Fund bears losses first, and the platform function will be strengthened by expanding fiscal contributions and establishing grounds for extending fund duration. In addition, an operating committee for the Mother Fund with participation across ministries will be established to enhance transparency and strategic management, and participation by statutory funds and retirement pensions in venture investment and the inflow of global capital will be actively promoted.
Financial regulations will be revamped to be friendly to venture commitments to expand participation by private capital. For banks' commitments to policy funds, guidelines will be prepared for applying risk weights (RW), and securities companies will be pushed to supply mandatory venture capital, including unlisted venture investments, focusing on large IBs. In addition, by easing regulations on external fundraising and overseas investment, the government will promote activation of corporate venture capital (CVC) and strategic investment by large and mid-sized corporations.
Finally, a dynamic ecosystem linking investment, exit, and reinvestment will be created. The mergers and acquisitions platform for SMEs and ventures will be upgraded to provide integrated support for sourcing, advisory, and finance, and M&A funds and guarantees will be greatly expanded. In particular, M&A guarantees will be expanded from about 30 billion won in 2025 to 200 billion won by 2030. Responding to market demand, a variety of secondary funds—including general secondary, LP equity securitization, and continuation funds—will be expanded to activate the interim exit market in venture investment.