For the early-stage investment ecosystem to take another step forward, "LIPS," regional investment, and the "venture studio" model must work together.
Jeon Hwasung, president of the Korea Startup Accelerators and Early Stage Investors Association (K-AIA), emphasized this at the "2026 Startup Investors Summit" held on the 29th at the Asti Hotel in Busan.
Jeon first assessed that the domestic accelerator (AC) industry has achieved rapid quantitative and qualitative growth. From 2017 through the first half of 2025, the cumulative investment executed by ACs reached 3.8053 trillion won. Of that, investments in early-stage corporations accounted for 65%, which he said shows ACs have established themselves as a core industry in the early investment market. The number of registered ACs has also surged from 37 in 2017 to 500 by the end of 2025.
However, Jeon pointed out that behind this growth lies a problem of market polarization. Jeon said, "There is an entrenched structure in which funds and opportunities are concentrated in a handful of ACs with track records and capabilities," adding, "Beyond simple investment, ACs must also play important nurturing roles to directly grow early-stage corporations."
Jeon also mentioned the need to activate TIPS and LIPS in parallel. He said a dual-track strategy is needed in which technology-based startups receive research and development (R&D) funding and scale-up support through TIPS, while culture, lifestyle, and local sectors are fostered through LIPS. LIPS is a private-investment-linked nurturing program that supports funds needed for corporate management, such as new product development and business advancement, for promising small merchants. The number of LIPS operators is rapidly growing, expanding from 30 in 2025 to 90 this year.
Jeon also attached significance to holding this event in Busan. He said, "This is a starting point for decentralizing the capital-area-concentrated investment structure to the regions," and added, "We should vitalize LIPS as much as TIPS to grow a region-based startup ecosystem." He further noted, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Fund of Funds will also be expanded significantly from the previous year, and region-matching funds will spread to multiple local governments, including Busan."
Jeon proposed role-sharing and coexistence as the future direction of the AC industry. He said a "venture capital (VC)-type AC," which handles scale-up investments based on large capital, and a "general-type AC," which broadens the base of the ecosystem through early-stage corporation sourcing and nurturing, should differentiate according to their roles and coexist.
Lastly, Jeon Hwasung also mentioned the importance of venture studios (company building). He said, "Since regulatory improvements in Aug. last year made it possible for ACs to establish subsidiaries, ACs should build a virtuous cycle in which nurturing, investment, exit, and reinvestment continue through the venture studio model, where ACs directly design business models and create and grow companies."