South Korea develops 1,000 super gap startups

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Monday said it would release the next day its plan for the so-called 2023 Super-gap Startup 1,000+ Project in which 270 designated  companies in the global super-gap sector will receive combined support of 344 billion won ($276.6 million) over the next three years through a public-private partnership.

A super gap refers to the wide lead a market dominator has over its competitors.

In November last year, the ministry picked tech-based startups in 10 promising industries through public-private partnerships over the next five years. The project will see funding of over 2 trillion won and select this year for the first time 270 startups to support.

The 10 sectors are system semiconductors, bio and health, future mobility, eco-friendly and energy, robots, big data and artificial intelligence, cyber security and networks, aerospace and marine, next-generation nuclear power plants and quantum technology.

The ministry will support the commercial applications of technology and research and development by selecting promising startups that fall into these 10 super-gap fields.

For general support for startups, the eligibility standard for companies has been expanded to those with a business history of up to 10 years, up from seven. 

Write to Hyung-Chang Choi at calling@hankyung.com