The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 26th that it has selected four new research and development (R&D) projects in the food tech sector for 2023.
In the 'Food Tech Industry Development Plan' announced on December 14 last year, the Ministry identified 10 core technologies in the food tech field and stated that it would simultaneously promote private-led R&D and government-wide R&D for these technologies.
The selected projects this time are private-led R&D projects, consisting of two 'idea stage' projects targeting startups within 1 to 7 years that possess basic-level technology, and two 'investment-linked' projects targeting promising companies that have secured a total investment of over 200 million KRW in the past three years. The call for proposals was open to free topics.
A total of 51 institutions applied during the project call period, showing a high competition rate of 12.7 to 1 on average. Unlike previous methods, investment experts participated in the project evaluation to assess the industrialization potential after R&D.
The two projects selected at the idea stage are the development of hydrogel-applied packaging that can absorb carbon dioxide to reduce kimchi packaging materials, and an upcycling technology for waste paper used in grain germination. Each of these projects will receive 187 million KRW in funding over two years.
The two projects selected as investment-linked are dry separation technology for plant proteins and product development using this technology, and the development of dietary design algorithm technology for the elderly. Each of these projects will receive 373 million KRW in funding over two years.
The four selected projects will be carried out over two years (2023?2024). The total support amount is 1.12 billion KRW. The Ministry plans to further expand support for technology development in the food tech sector by adding programs in 2024 to support companies at the scale-up stage, which are preparing for industrialization.
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