[StartupRecipe] Korea Approves KRW 1.69 Trillion Budget to Boost Startups

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Korea Approves KRW 1.69 Trillion Budget to Boost Startups

The South Korean government has finalized a supplementary budget of KRW 1.6903 trillion to support the management stability of export companies and small business owners struggling due to the Middle East war, as well as the innovative growth of startups and regional companies creating youth employment.

The budget is concentrated across four key areas: minimizing damage to export SMEs from the Middle East conflict, stabilizing small business operations, promoting entrepreneurship to support youth employment, and facilitating AI transformation for regional small and medium-sized manufacturers. The largest allocation — KRW 671.9 billion — will be directed toward fostering a startup boom. A central pillar of the plan is the ‘Startup for all’ project, a government-led entrepreneurship talent development platform set to receive KRW 155 billion. Designed to discover innovative entrepreneurs and provide mentoring through stage-by-stage competitions, the platform offers one-stop support from idea to commercialization.

The project, conceived to open a national era of entrepreneurship, aims to ensure that anyone with an idea can pursue a startup, positioning entrepreneurship as a new opportunity amid growing polarization. Top finalists will receive support of up to KWR 1 billion or more. Market access, commercialization, and financial support for promising startups will also be expanded to accelerate growth. At the same time, support for companies seeking a comeback will be strengthened so that past failure can become a foundation for future success.

To revitalize both tech and local entrepreneurship, an additional KRW 24 billion will be invested in expanding deep-tech startup-focused universities linked to startup cities. A further KRW 60.3 billion has been allocated to support programs for local entrepreneurs leveraging regional resources, including commercialization funding and follow-on project linkages.

Additionally, the government will contribute KRW 60 billion to a mother fund to establish venture funds focused on early-stage startups, comeback companies, and regionally based firms. Budgets for open innovation between large corporations and startups, as well as collaboration with global companies, will also be expanded.

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