The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 2nd that it held a plaque-awarding ceremony and a roundtable at the Munji Campus of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon for 12 newly selected "super-gap" startups located outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
The event was chaired by First Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS). It encouraged super-gap startups driving regional growth and discussed policies to support region-based new-industry startups.
The super-gap startup project identifies promising startups in new industries that will lead the future national economy and supports them with commercialization funds and linked research and development (R&D) programs, fostering them into global unicorn companies. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) has selected about 200 corporations each year since 2023 and has supported a total of 804 corporations to date.
In particular, the share of newly selected non-capital area corporations rose from 28.7% in 2023 to 30% in 2024, 33% last year, and 35.5% this year.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) reorganized the existing 10 super-gap fields into a system of six strategic industries and 12 new industries to align with government policy directions and global technology and market changes. For this year's program, a total of 200 corporations were selected through an open call, private verification, and recommendations from relevant ministries. The competition rate for the open call was 16.8 to 1.
Selected corporations receive up to 600 million won in commercialization funds over three years. Subject to a separate review, they can receive up to an additional 600 million won for technology development. The structure provides direct support of up to 1.2 billion won per corporation. At the same time, they are offered programs for attracting investment, export support, use of technology development infrastructure, open innovation, and global expansion.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to separately select 15 corporations among super-gap startups that have received three years of support since 2023 and have outstanding results in sales, employment, and investment, and provide follow-up support of up to 1 billion won in global scale-up commercialization funds over the next two years.
So far, global unicorn companies have been produced for three consecutive years through the super-gap startup project. Thirteen corporations have attracted a total of 67.7 billion won in investment, and 17 corporations have successfully listed via the technology exception route.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to use this event as a springboard to speed up the revitalization of regional startup ecosystems. Centered on the 10 regional offices of SMEs and Startups nationwide, it will establish a "super-gap regional governance" that includes local governments, related institutions, venture capital (VC), and startups. It plans to continue support events such as investment briefings (IR) and one-on-one investment consultations.
First Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "The rising annual share of newly selected super-gap startups in non-capital regions will greatly help regional economic growth," and added, "To ensure the trend rises steeply, we will introduce regional extra points in evaluations for the 'super-gap startup project' and step up efforts to identify outstanding new-industry startups in the regions."