Minister Lee: "Daejeon to Become a Deep-Tech Startup Hub... Stronger Support Policies"

On-Site Meeting on the Startup City Development Project Held at KAIST in Daejeon
Agreement on the Need for "Long-Term Patient Capital"; Flexibility in Policy Funding Support to Be Reviewed

Lee Soyoung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said on October 15 that the government would strengthen investment and commercialization support to develop Daejeon into a hub for deep-tech startups. The plan is to provide government support so that the technologies and talent accumulated at KAIST and government-funded research institutes can drive company growth.

At an on-site meeting on the Startup City Development Project held that afternoon at the National NanoFab Center at KAIST in Daejeon, Minister Lee said, "Daejeon will become the leading example among startup cities." She stressed Daejeon's role, saying that its designation as a startup city should lead to a real increase in startup activity and to business success.

Daejeon is home to a dense concentration of research and technology resources, including KAIST, Chungnam National University, the Daedeok Innopolis, and government-funded research institutes. According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Daejeon ranks 296th globally and first among regions outside the capital area in the global startup ecosystem rankings. The ministry selected Daejeon as a startup city this past April and is supporting the development of its local startup ecosystem.

The Startup City Development Project connects local startup resources, including talent, funding, investment, and infrastructure, to build a citywide startup ecosystem. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is currently advancing the project in four locations: Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan. It plans to expand the initiative to 10 locations nationwide by issuing a call this month to select six additional locations.

Lee Soyoung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, delivers opening remarks at an on-site meeting on the Startup City Development Project at the National NanoFab Center at KAIST in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, on the afternoon of the 15th. Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Yang Seungchan, head of Daejeon's Future Strategy Office, reported on the project's progress and future plans. He said Daejeon is providing a total of KRW 13.8 billion in commercialization funding to 75 startups in three key fields: defense and space, artificial intelligence and robotics, and biotechnology and new drugs. He added that the city is also working to establish a KRW 54 billion regional growth fund, with a focus on supporting companies' substantive growth and helping them put down roots in the region.

At the following discussion, companies struggling to enter the market and attract investment shared their challenges. Kim Seunghoon, CEO of LK Robotics, described his experience participating in the government's first pilot demonstration and procurement project and emphasized that public institutions in Daejeon should also become the first customers for products from local startups. His point was that focused support in key fields such as robotics is needed to create success stories.

Park Sangwook, technical director at The Robotics, called for greater flexibility in policy support during the process of "pivoting" to a new business direction. He noted that companies sometimes have to carry out existing projects separately even after changing their business direction, and said government support programs need to adapt more flexibly to changes at companies.

Shin Donghyun, CEO of Mirae Science and Technology Holdings, called for long-term investment capital capable of supporting the growth cycle of deep-tech companies. Citing companies expected to take 14 to 15 years to reach an initial public offering (IPO) after their initial investment, he said it is difficult to recoup investments with fund lifespans of just eight to 10 years.

Speaking to reporters immediately after the meeting, Minister Lee said the need for "patient, long-term capital" raised by Shin had also come up earlier at a major forum on revitalizing regional startup ecosystems, chaired by the prime minister. She also said she understood the difficulties faced by startups that want to change their business direction in response to market conditions but are required to stick to the business plans they originally submitted to the government to receive policy funding. "I came to think that the view that greater flexibility in support programs can benefit both companies and policy objectives is reasonable," Minister Lee said.

Minister Lee also reflected on the first day of her "Two Days and One Night in the Field" schedule. She said the visit gave her an opportunity to gain a concrete understanding, on the ground, of policies she had previously encountered in documents and of the concerns facing local communities. "Through this visit to the Chungcheong region, policy, which had been words on a page, stepped off the paper and offered me a number of insights," she said. "It was a day that made me realize just how many concerns there are at the local level."

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