The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 30th that it selected four areas as regions to establish the "2026 regional growth fund": the Daegu–North Gyeongsang area, the Gwangju–South Jeolla area, Daejeon, and Ulsan.
The selected regions plan to establish a parent fund worth at least 350 billion won. As next-priority regions, South Gyeongsang, North Jeolla, Jeju, and North Chungcheong were designated. These regions can form funds without an additional call if the 2027 budget is secured.
Twelve local governments participated in this call. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) evaluated overall community participation, plans to use the fund, and the effect on balanced regional development. In particular, to ease concentration in the capital area, the plan to create an integrated fund at a super-regional level was given preference. Accordingly, the Daegu–North Gyeongsang area and the Gwangju–South Jeolla area were selected on the condition of creating a metropolitan integrated fund.
The parent fund's contribution scale is 75 billion won each for the Daegu–North Gyeongsang area and the Gwangju–South Jeolla area, and 35 billion won each for Daejeon and Ulsan. The minimum formation size of the parent fund is 125 billion won each for the Daegu–North Gyeongsang area and the Gwangju–South Jeolla area, and 50 billion won each for Daejeon and Ulsan.
The regional growth fund is a regional investment platform jointly created and operated by local governments, local communities, and the parent fund. Starting this year through 2030, the government plans over five years to establish at least one parent fund in each of 14 non-capital regions and to supply more than 3.5 trillion won in sub-funds.
The parent fund will contribute to blind funds and project funds that invest in regional small and midsize corporations. Project funds aim to foster regional unicorn corporations through large-scale investments of about 10 billion won per project.
The selected regional governments will finalize contributions to the parent fund after a local government finance investment review in April and a budget review by local councils in the second half. The Korea Venture Investment Corporation will manage the parent fund. After that, a steering committee will be formed to establish a sub-fund investment strategy, and an operator will be selected within the year.
Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "The regional growth fund is an investment platform for building a region-centered venture investment ecosystem."