1.67 Trillion Won to Be Invested in R&D Special Zones... Building a Full-Cycle 'Fast Track' for Regional Deep Tech Startups

Ministry of Science and ICT Increases Special Zone Promotion Project Budget by 44% for 2026
Connecting Business Scaling Up and Global Expansion

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it will invest a total of 167.3 billion won in the 2026 Research and Development Special Zone Promotion Project to foster special R&D zones as core hubs for regional deep tech startups. This represents an increase of 51.2 billion won (44%) from the previous year, with a focus on establishing a seamless, full-cycle growth system from technology startups to business scaling up and global expansion.

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The government plans to significantly strengthen support so that outstanding research achievements from universities and research institutes in these zones can immediately lead to local startups, and promising companies can successfully enter the market through demonstration and commercialization. Through this, the aim is to create a 'fast track' for deep tech companies born in the regions to achieve sustainable growth.

A total of 75.7 billion won will be invested in the commercialization of strategic technology research outcomes. This is a 51.2% increase from the previous year, and will expand support for technology startup studios that comprehensively assist with deep tech-based startup planning, team building, and initial investment connections. The focus will be on providing concentrated support for the early growth foundation so that technologies from universities and research institutes in the special zones can be directly linked to local startups.

Support for the Special Zone Innovation Growth Scaling Up program, which bridges demonstration and commercialization, has also been expanded to 38 billion won. The government will strengthen R&D for new technology demonstration exemptions using regulatory sandboxes, and support the advancement of technology at the demonstration stage-such as pilot testing and prototype production-for companies specializing in regional fields. In particular, by selecting promising deep tech companies and providing intensive multi-year support for mid- to large-scale R&D and business development (R&BD) projects of 1 billion won or more, the plan is to ensure that technologies do not remain at the experimental stage but lead to market leadership.

The Global Boost-Up Project, aimed at global expansion, has been significantly increased to 11.5 billion won. This is a 131% increase from the previous year, and will support global R&BD and overseas local proof-of-concept (PoC) for special zone companies seeking to enter international markets, helping them adapt to local market conditions.

The Ministry of Science and ICT expects that, through this investment, the special R&D zones will become not only commercialization hubs for research outcomes but also key hubs driving regional innovation-led growth in deep tech and strategic technology fields. The announcement for the 2026 Research and Development Special Zone Promotion Project can be found on the websites of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Innopolis Foundation.