Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Recruit New Scale-up TIPS Operators

Recruiting Around 50 New Operators
Priority Given to Regional Innovation Discovery Capabilities

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on December 29 that it will begin recruiting approximately 50 new “Scale-up TIPS Operators (General)” to support the growth and global expansion of promising technology companies.

TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup) is a private-sector-led technology innovation program in which operators first invest in and recommend technology companies after verifying their market potential, and the government subsequently provides linked support such as research and development (R&D) grants. Currently, there are 149 TIPS operators and 24 Scale-up TIPS operators active.

Since its launch in 2013, TIPS has attracted 21.3 trillion won in private investment-about 10 times the government’s R&D grant funding-into more than 5,000 innovative companies, thanks to active private sector participation. The program has also produced tangible results, including 48 companies successfully completing initial public offerings (IPOs).

Starting in 2026, the Ministry plans to enhance TIPS into a full-cycle support system covering startup, growth, and global expansion, while significantly expanding the scale of support. In particular, the number of Scale-up TIPS will increase from the current 152 to 300, and a new Global TIPS program will be established with 100 slots.

As TIPS evolves into a full-cycle support system, the role of private investment in connecting each stage has become even more important. To this end, the number of “Scale-up TIPS Operators” responsible for identifying companies beyond the scale-up stage will be expanded from the current 24 to about 80 by 2026. In addition to discovering more companies quickly, the Ministry plans to strengthen the expertise of R&D support by dividing operators into “general operators” at the investment company level and “specialized operators” at the consortium level.

This announcement pertains to the recruitment of “general operators.” The Ministry will comprehensively evaluate investment performance, investment resources, and company support capabilities of investment firms to select approximately 50 operators.

In particular, to strategically discover regional innovative companies, operators that invest in local areas will be given priority in selection. Investment firms headquartered and active in regional hubs will receive an additional three points, and the Ministry will focus on verifying factors such as local fund operation, investment performance in regional companies, and future regional investment plans. Through this, 50% of the 2026 support quota will be preferentially allocated to regional companies.

Selected operators can participate in Scale-up TIPS and Global TIPS for up to six years. They will also receive financial and administrative support, including funding for business support activities such as commercialization strategy planning, patent analysis, and market research.

Hwang Youngho, Director of Technology Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, “TIPS has become a representative policy supporting technological innovation and growth for SMEs and venture companies because the government trusted and fully supported the choices of the private sector. We look forward to the active interest and participation of capable investment firms to foster a variety of technologies and industries, the growth of regional innovative companies, and the creation of global markets.”