Inno-Biz Association Selected as Implementing Agency for Seoul Metropolitan Area "K-Defense Startup Phase 1 Development Project"

Full-Scale Launch of Private Sector-Led Defense Industry Ecosystem

The Inno-Biz Association announced on May 4 that it has been selected as the final implementing agency for the Seoul metropolitan area for the "2026 K-Defense Startup Phase 1 Development Project," which is being promoted by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Defense Technology Promotion Research Institute.

This project is a program designed to discover early-stage startups and promising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with no prior experience in the defense industry in order to facilitate their entry into the defense sector. The program provides step-by-step support for task planning, defense industry education, preliminary research and development (R&D), and mentoring.

Accordingly, the Inno-Biz Association plans to discover and intensively nurture 15 promising defense startups in the Seoul metropolitan area through a project with a total scale of KRW 1.5 billion by December this year.

Inno-Biz Association Logo. Inno-Biz Association Logo

In particular, the association will establish a full-cycle support system, leveraging the outstanding private-sector technology capabilities owned by SMEs in the ICT and manufacturing sectors. This system will cover every stage from technology development item planning to prototype production and verification, and commercialization. The strategy is to accelerate entry into the defense industry and facilitate a successful transition into defense companies.

Furthermore, the association will actively utilize its Inno-Biz company network to foster a self-sustaining defense ecosystem centered on technologically verified SMEs.

Participating companies will be eligible for participation in mid- to long-term research and development (R&D) in Phase 2 (2027, up to KRW 500 million per company) and Phase 3 (2028, up to KRW 2.1 billion per company), enabling them to benefit from a "growth ladder" that connects to global expansion.

An official from the Inno-Biz Association stated, "The Seoul metropolitan area is a key region with a concentration of outstanding technology, talent, and investment infrastructure. Through practical and close-knit private sector-focused support, we will actively drive the rapid commercialization and scaling up of defense startups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.