Event Held to Promote Commercialization of Regulatory Sandbox Operators

‘Regulatory Sandbox Investment Attraction Demo Day’
Held to Support Commercialization
and Private Investment Opportunities

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on May 29 that it held the "Regulatory Sandbox Investment Attraction Demo Day" at The White Veil in Seocho-gu, Seoul. This event was organized to provide private investment opportunities to special zone operators and to promote the commercialization of their businesses.

This event brought together nine special zone operators from four regulatory sandboxes and two global innovation zones. The participating operators gave pitches of approximately 10 minutes and engaged in Q&A sessions with venture capitalists (VCs). An evaluation panel composed of investors assessed the operators' pitches and selected outstanding companies.

Participants of the 2025 Regulatory Sandbox Investment Attraction Demo Day are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

As a result of the evaluation, HBOT Medical from the Gangwon AI Healthcare Global Innovation Zone received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award. In addition, Surim Tech from the Gangwon Liquid Hydrogen Industry Regulatory Sandbox and Tissen Biofarm from the Gyeongbuk Cell-Cultured Food Regulatory Sandbox each received the Chairman's Award from the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency.

For the three award-winning operators, after reviewing eligibility requirements and other conditions, the government plans to provide commercialization funds linked to the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency's growth-sharing fund, with the aim of enhancing the potential for attracting future private investment.

Shin Mincheol, Partner at Sopoong Ventures and head of the evaluation committee for this event, stated, "I hope that new industries such as bio-healthcare and food tech being promoted in special zones will become new growth engines for our country. We will actively consider making investments in special zone operators."

Lim Jungwook, Director-General for Startup and Venture Innovation at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "Operators in regulatory sandboxes and global innovation zones are companies with high growth potential that create new business areas through regulatory improvements. We will not stop at simply facilitating meetings between special zone operators and investors, but will expand support for the growth of special zone operators through direct commercialization funding and linkages."