175 Companies Selected for 'Small and Medium Business Smart Service Project'... "Service Evolution with AI"

Support for New Solution Development and Advancement
545 Companies Applied, 3:1 Competition Ratio

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs announced on August 18 that they have selected 175 companies to be supported under the "2026 Small and Medium Business Smart Service Project," which is designed to assist SMEs in their AI (artificial intelligence) and digital transformation.

Infographic on the Smart Service Project for Small and Medium Enterprises. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

After the project was announced in March this year, applications were accepted over a two-month period, resulting in 545 SMEs applying and a competition rate of 3:1.

This project supports quality improvement in areas such as logistics, supply chain management, and marketing when SMEs in the service industry develop business models based on AI and digital technologies.

The support is divided into two categories: development of new solutions and advancement of existing services. For the development of new solutions, 150 companies will receive KRW 50 million each, while 25 companies advancing their solutions will receive up to KRW 100 million each.

Among the selected companies, 29% (50 companies) are in distribution, 22% (39 companies) in information and communication, and 19% (34 companies) in science and technology services. Start-ups accounted for 47% (83 companies), while 53% (92 companies) were growth-stage companies established for more than seven years.

Among the selected companies, C-Life Science Lab, an SME established in 2019, plans to develop a solution that predicts import prices and recommends optimal alternative fish species and supply sources based on global seafood distribution, supply chain, and market price data.

Cplus, which operates Careplus, an ICT-based caregiver-patient matching platform, plans to enhance its solution by adding AI voice interactive response system (ARS) features such as caregiver registration and care record management, thus expanding the scope and application of its services.

Hwang Youngho, Director-General for Technology Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "The Small and Medium Business Smart Service Support Project will provide SMEs in the service sector with opportunities to create new business models and enhance productivity and competitiveness by adopting AI," adding, "We will continue policy support to drive innovation for SMEs based on AI and digital technologies."

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