Recruitment of Operators for Technology Startup Support Program 'TIPS'

Recruitment of Approximately 25 New Operators

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 18th that it is recruiting TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup) operators, targeting investment firms equipped with investment and incubation capabilities such as startup planners and early-stage specialized venture capital (VC) firms.

Since 2013, the government has been promoting TIPS, a system in which operators selected by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups use private sector expertise and capabilities to select startup companies, and the government provides linked support such as technology development (R&D) and startup commercialization funds. To date, more than 2,700 startups supported by TIPS have attracted follow-up investments totaling approximately 13 trillion KRW.

Last year, to strategically nurture new industry startups with excellent technology and talent, a ‘Deep Tech Track’ was established to provide up to 1.5 billion KRW in R&D funds over three years to startups in 10 ultra-gap sectors. This year, to support promising technology startups’ overseas expansion, a ‘Global TIPS’ program was newly established to provide overseas expansion funds to companies that have received investments above a certain scale from overseas VCs, continuously expanding the scope of TIPS.

Currently, a total of 104 TIPS operators are active, and through this announcement, about 25 additional operators will be recruited. The Ministry plans to give additional points to investment firms with investment capabilities in the 10 ultra-gap sectors and those located outside the metropolitan area to strengthen startup support in the deep tech field and revitalize the startup ecosystem outside the metropolitan area. In addition, to expand opportunities for early startup planners and regional investment firms with capabilities but insufficient track records to participate as TIPS operators, about 20% of the selected operators will be designated as preliminary operators.

Lim Jeong-wook, Director of the Startup Venture Innovation Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The key factor that allowed TIPS to be recognized as a successful program both domestically and internationally was the active participation of capable and excellent operators.” He added, “We hope that excellent investment firms, including those in the deep tech field, will join as TIPS operators, actively discover promising technology startups, provide more growth opportunities, and thereby revitalize the venture and startup ecosystem.”