The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it has selected 40 new companies for the “Material, Component, and Equipment Startups 100” project, holding the selection ceremony at the DMC Tower in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 27th.
The “Material, Component, and Equipment Startups 100” project, which began in 2020, aims to discover startups in the material, component, and equipment sectors and foster them into domestic manufacturers for import substitution and export companies. By adding 40 new companies this year, a total of 100 companies, as targeted, have been selected, with 60 companies having been selected until last year.
Selected companies will receive support, including up to 200 million KRW in business funding, preferred policy funds (loans and guarantees), guarantee fee reduction, and export marketing support. They will also have access to ongoing exchange programs with large and medium-sized enterprises (demand companies) and investment institutions.
The newly selected 40 companies are categorized into six high-growth potential sectors: △Eco-friendly (11 companies) △Smart Engineering (5 companies) △Semiconductor (3 companies) △Industrial IoT (9 companies) △Convergence Bio (7 companies) △Composite Materials (5 companies).
Among them, “FRAMTO” (CEO, Kim Ki-soo) possesses the core technology to manufacture ultra-thin metal and has the potential for stable growth through collaboration with demand companies and subsequent investment attraction in various industrial fields, including next-generation batteries.
“USN-K” (Representative, Kim Young-eon) is a company that develops AI-based sound sensing modules that can be applied to smart mobility, showing potential for growth in the UAM (Urban Air Mobility) sector in the future.
At the ceremony, Mr. Im Wan, the CEO of Excel Investment, who participated as an evaluation committee member, began by presenting the characteristics of this year’s selected companies and the technological trends in the material, component, and equipment field. The event also included sharing collaboration methods with demand institutions and successful cases of senior companies selected last year. Following that, there were networking events among the selected companies and an introduction to government support programs, organized by Director Im Jeong-uk of the Startup and Venture Innovation Division.
Minister Lee Young stated, “With this year’s selection, the ‘Material, Component, and Equipment Startups 100’ project has been completed. However, given recent power struggles in the supply chain between the U.S. and China and the repercussions of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the importance of stabilizing supply chains and achieving self-reliance in materials, components, and equipment is expected to grow even more in the future.” He also added, “Considering these trends, the Ministry will shift its focus to leading the global new industry supply chain and plans to expand support for material, component, and equipment startups through the ‘Disruptive Startups 1000+ Project’.”