The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said on the 29th that it will newly recruit about 50 "Scale-up TIPS operators" to support the growth and global expansion of promising technology corporations from Dec. 29 to Jan. 30.
TIPS is a private sector-led technology innovation program in which operators (private investment firms such as accelerators (AC) and venture capital (VC)) first verify marketability, invest, and recommend technology corporations, and the government provides linked support such as R&D contributions. Currently, 149 TIPS operators and 24 Scale-up TIPS operators are active. With active participation from the private sector, since its launch in 2013 it has attracted 21.3 trillion won in private investment—about 10 times the government's R&D contributions (2.2 trillion won)—to more than 5,000 innovative corporations to date, and has produced visible results, including 48 successful initial public offerings (IPOs).
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to upgrade TIPS into a full life-cycle support system for startup, growth, and global stages starting in 2026, and to significantly expand the scale of support. In particular, the number of Scale-up TIPS will increase from the current 152 to 300, and Global TIPS will be newly created with 100 slots.
As TIPS is upgraded into a full life-cycle support system for growth, the role of private investment that provides consolidation across each stage has become even more important. To that end, the number of "Scale-up TIPS operators" that identify the post-scale-up stage will be expanded from the current 24 to about 80 in 2026. While swiftly identifying more corporations, the plan is to bifurcate operators into investment firm-level "general operators" and consortium-level "specialized operators" to strengthen expertise in R&D support.
This announcement concerns the recruitment of "general operators," and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to select about 50 after a comprehensive evaluation of the investment firm's track record (portfolio), investment resources, and capabilities to support corporations (organization, personnel, network).
In particular, to strategically identify regional innovative corporations, operators that invest in regions will be prioritized. Regional hub investment firms with their headquarters in the region will receive a preferential three-point bonus, and the evaluation will focus on whether they manage regional funds, their investment track record in regional corporations, and their regional investment plans. Through this, 50% of the support slots in 2026 will be preferentially allocated to regional corporations.
Selected operators can participate in Scale-up TIPS and Global TIPS for up to six years. They will also receive financial and administrative support benefits, including expenses necessary for corporate support activities such as commercialization strategy planning, patent analysis, and market research.
Hwang Young-ho, director-general for technology innovation policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "The reason TIPS has become a representative policy supporting technological innovation and growth of small and medium venture corporations is because the government trusted the private sector's choices and provided full support," adding, "We look forward to strong interest and participation from capable investment firms to drive the growth of innovative corporations with diverse technologies and industries across regions and to create global markets."