Space and Aviation Super-Gap Startup 'Contec' Hosts
'Super-Gap Plaque Ceremony and Meeting'
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has selected 232 new super-gap startups in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and aerospace, and will provide support for these related sectors.
On the 20th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the ‘New Super-Gap Startup Plaque Ceremony and Meeting’ at Contec, which was selected as a super-gap startup in the aerospace field for 2024.
This event was organized to reflect the on-site voices of new super-gap startups in five expanded fields starting this year?space and maritime, AI, quantum technology, among the 10 major super-gap sectors including system semiconductors and bio-healthcare?into policy, and to discuss ways to foster them intensively and enable their entry into the global market. About 20 people attended the event, including representatives of super-gap startups in AI and quantum technology, and executives and staff from host organizations such as the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.
To secure a leading position in the rapidly expanding global space market, which is increasingly driven by the private sector, seven super-gap startups in the aerospace field were selected for the first time. The Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development and key supporting organizations, including the host institution Korea Aerospace Research Institute, pledged focused support for space startups as one team.
The ‘Super-Gap Startup 1000+ Project’ (DIPS 1000+) is a project that, from last year through 2027, jointly by the public and private sectors, selects and intensively supports more than 1,000 excellent deep-tech startups in 10 new industry sectors that will lead the future of the national economy, fostering global unicorns.
Startups were recruited through various methods including open calls, private verification, and ministry recommendations, recording a high competition rate of 13.1:1. After strict and transparent evaluations by top-level domestic and international evaluation panels and a public evaluation group, a total of 217 companies were finally selected.
The newly selected startups will receive direct funding of up to 1.1 billion KRW over the next three years, including up to 600 million KRW for commercialization funds and up to 500 million KRW for R&D funds after separate evaluation according to corporate demand. They will also receive linked support such as policy funds, guarantees, and export assistance.
They will receive specialized support tailored to the characteristics of each industry from the technology commercialization host institutions by new industry sector. In the aerospace field, support will be provided through the Korea Aerospace Research Institute for technology development and commercialization using available equipment, acquisition of global certifications, joint participation in international aerospace exhibitions, and marketing.
Looking at the selected startups, those founded by researchers accounted for 80.2% (174 companies) of the total selection. These outstanding startups have been verified for their technological capabilities in the private sector, with an average cumulative investment of 8.9 billion KRW and an average investment of 1.8 billion KRW last year.
Additionally, among startups that received support from the Innovative Field Startup Package project for three years from 2020, 15 startups with excellent global technological achievements, sales, employment, and investment performance were selected through separate evaluation. Among them, four companies achieved remarkable results such as growing through the support project and listing on KOSDAQ.
The excellent startups selected for follow-up support will receive up to 1 billion KRW in commercialization funds for global scale-up over the next two years. These startups have an average cumulative investment attraction amount of 16.5 billion KRW, indicating a high potential to grow into unicorn companies through future support.
Meanwhile, following the plaque ceremony, the meeting began with a greeting from Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Professor Ahn Hyo-sung of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), the representative of the super-gap evaluation panel, presented his impressions on the super-gap startup evaluation, and Hee-jin Bae, director at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, announced support plans for aerospace super-gap startups.
The event concluded with a meeting where representatives of eight super-gap startups in aerospace, maritime, AI and big data, cybersecurity, next-generation nuclear power, and quantum technology fields listened to and responded to various on-site suggestions.
Minister Oh said, “Today’s meeting confirmed that deep-tech startups in new industries such as AI and aerospace can be new growth engines responsible for our country’s economy,” adding, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will concentrate all policy capabilities to support Korean deep-tech startups to grow into unicorns leading the global market through participation in the super-gap project.”
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