Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) said on the 24th that, under the Notice on the 2026 K-beauty loan support plan for small and midsize enterprises, it will begin accepting applications for the program on the 26th.
The K-beauty loan is policy financing that supports production funds based on confirmed purchase orders, taking into account the cosmetics industry's characteristic of recouping payments after preemptive product production. It was introduced to ease funding difficulties for small and midsize cosmetics companies that secure orders but struggle to raise initial production expense.
Established last year, the K-beauty loan fully executed its 20 billion won loan budget to 183 companies within six months of program launch, confirming strong on-site funding demand. In addition, supported companies' exports increased 18.8% compared with before, and the number of exporting companies rose 24.8%, producing results in which policy finance led to strengthened export competitiveness for K-beauty.
This year, the budget is set at 40 billion won, double the previous year, and, by gathering on-site feedback, the support conditions will be eased and the scope of support expanded.
Key changes include: ▲ expanding the per-application support limit from up to 100 million won to 150 million won ▲ including not only cosmetics production costs but also expense for essential cosmetics sub-materials such as containers and pumps within the support scope ▲ extending the mandatory use period for the support amount (from the loan date to completion of loan disbursement) from six months to 12 months ▲ raising the allowable portion for uses other than product production, such as marketing and logistics, from 20% to 30%.
In addition, to lower the entry barrier for promising small and midsize brand companies, since the second half of last year applications have been allowed without a recommendation from an order-placing company, enabling small and midsize brand companies to apply for funds with only a confirmed purchase order.
Kang Seok-jin, chair of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), said, "The domestic cosmetics industry is expanding its global competitiveness based on K-culture," and added, "Through the K-beauty loan, we will spare no effort on multiple fronts so that the creative products and innovative technologies of outstanding domestic cosmetics brands become the link that connects them with consumers worldwide."