154 projects have been selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' technology innovation development project, which aims to promote corporate growth through R&D support for each stage of innovation capacity and rapid commercialization so that small and medium-sized enterprises can scale up through technology development.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (hereinafter referred to as the MSS) announced on the 4th that it has selected 154 projects in promising future fields such as secondary batteries, advanced robots, and future cars to be supported through the 'SME Technology Innovation Development Project'.

The 'Small and Medium Enterprise Technology Innovation Development Project' is a project that supports small and medium enterprises with sales of 2 billion won or more and excellent technological capabilities that will lead the 4th Industrial Revolution and the digital transformation era.

▲Technology Development Innovation Project Support Contents (Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups)

A total of 1,548 projects were received for this contest over a two-week period from Monday, April 11 to Monday, April 25, and 154 projects (totaling KRW 19.4 billion) were finally selected through a non-face-to-face evaluation method amidst a high competition rate of 10:1.

The selected projects will be supported with 500 to 600 million won for up to two years.

In the secondary battery field, △charging and discharging equipment for activation process △precision laser processing machine for material processing △roll to roll for thin film surface treatment A total of 8 tasks related to material and process development were selected, including manufacturing equipment such as Roll) equipment, recycling technology for waste battery materials, electrolyte additive synthesis technology, and high-purity cathode stabilizer process technology.

In the field of advanced robots, 7 tasks were selected for the development of advanced manufacturing robots, including collaborative robots to support manufacturing workers, mobile robots for pipeline safety inspections, and service robots, including multi-functional complex logistics management robots and AI-based object-attachable mobile robots, in order to advance the robot industry and secure advanced manufacturing technology.

In the future vehicle sector, 7 tasks related to sensors were selected, including △electric vehicle inverter current sensors, △radar sensor post-maintenance technology, △electric vehicle motor shaft voltage reduction devices, and △multi-functional residential electric vehicle chargers, etc.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to swiftly sign agreements for selected projects in August to quickly provide research funds for project implementation, and also plans to provide basic guidelines for project implementation, such as R&D implementation plans, research expense calculation and execution, and research ethics, to selected SMEs.

Yoon Seok-bae, head of the Technology Development Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “We plan to continuously support domestic SMEs and venture companies so that they can have unrivaled technological competitiveness in the global market,” adding, “We will also actively discover and foster SMEs and venture companies with potential in promising future fields such as secondary batteries and advanced robots.”