Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces Call for New Joint Impact R&D Projects

Up to 600 Million KRW Funding per Sub-Project
Consortium-Based Participation... 17 RFPs Available

On May 27, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the launch of the new '2025 Joint Impact R&D (Research and Development)' project, aimed at enhancing the technological competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and generating collaborative commercialization outcomes.

The Joint Impact R&D initiative is a newly introduced program this year by the Ministry, designed to resolve common challenges through collaboration among SMEs and to spread the developed technologies across the broader industry.

Through this program, up to 600 million KRW in R&D funding will be provided per sub-project over a period of two years. The scale of new support for this year is a total of 7 to 8 projects (25 sub-projects). Each project may consist of 2 to 4 sub-projects, and if a project is composed of 4 sub-projects, it can receive up to 2.4 billion KRW in funding.

This call for proposals will be conducted as a designated competition, based on a total of 17 Requests for Proposals (RFPs) identified through a demand survey conducted in February for SMEs and cooperatives. Key projects include AI-based water and sewage treatment monitoring technologies, fine dust reduction technologies, and initiatives supporting the convergence of manufacturing with AI and platform technologies in the textile, dyeing, and steel sectors.

In addition, the Ministry will designate a lead organization and consortium manager according to the nature of each project, and will support the strengthening of commercialization capabilities of participating companies through regular networking events, such as performance-sharing meetings.

Applications will be accepted from June 16 to June 30. The Ministry will comprehensively evaluate technological merit, business potential, technological capabilities, and the feasibility of the consortium to select outstanding projects. In particular, for consortium feasibility, the Ministry plans to focus on the appropriateness of the implementation system and the division of roles among participating companies.