The Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 14th announced the "Challenge for All: Fabless" program, which supports the multi-project wafer (MPW) process for promising fabless startups, in partnership with three domestic foundries: Samsung Electronics, SK keyfoundry, and DB HiTek.
"Challenge for All" is a program created to promote open innovation between startups in key strategic fields and leading corporations. This "Challenge for All: Fabless" is the third in the series, following AI transformation (AX) and defense. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) prepared this initiative to support fabless startups that play a pivotal role as the system semiconductor industry rapidly grows with the spread of AI technology.
The program's core is to work with domestic foundry corporations to select promising fabless startups and give them priority access to the foundries' multi-project wafer (MPW) process. It also supports up to 200 million won in expense per corporation. The program has run annually since 2022, and a total of 20 corporations have received support so far. MPW is a product development method that places multiple chip designs on a single wafer at the same time for prototype production or research purposes.
Through this announcement, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will recruit fabless startups founded within the past 10 years. After document screening and presentation reviews, five finalists will be selected. In particular, this year's program expands support for the in-demand 12-inch process. Samsung Electronics will handle three companies on the 12-inch process, while SK keyfoundry and DB HiTek will each support two companies on the 8-inch process.
Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "We will actively support promising domestic fabless startups so they can build competitiveness and grow in the global market."