The government will leverage its world-class national R&D achievements to actively support deep science startups in fields expected to create new industries and markets, such as quantum technology, nuclear fusion, and synthetic biology. Deep science startups are challenging startups in emerging technology fields based on high-level scientific knowledge and R&D.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho) announced on the 21st that it had submitted the 'Deep Science Startup Activation Plan' to the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Policy Meeting.

Accordingly, the government plans to invest 700 billion won in science and technology startup R&D by 2027, doubling the number of R&D startup technology companies from 2,879 in 2022 to 5,500 in 2027, and raising the five-year survival rate of startup companies from 75% in 2020 to 85% in 2027, among other challenging goals.

Looking at the main contents, first of all, in new growth fields that require high-level science and technology, researchers and managers will establish deep science startups by utilizing their respective strengths and capabilities, and promote cooperation and partnerships with research industry companies to accelerate corporate growth, thereby supporting technological innovation and startups in the field of deep science in parallel.

We will expand support to discover promising research results in the field of deep science through a competitive process and ensure that researchers receive systematic, specialized support from the patent application stage, enabling them to secure and utilize strong intellectual property.

We will establish a (tentatively named) Deep Science Startup Fund (up to KRW 450 billion by 2027) that can serve as a gateway to VC investment by supporting early growth, such as seed investment, in deep science startups. We will also promote the provision of various funds to deep science companies by including the deep science field in the policy financing target.

We will pursue comprehensive support, including institutional support to alleviate the budget burden for deep science startups to utilize essential research facilities and equipment, awarding extra points when selecting companies designated for military service, and supporting the infrastructure of innovation capacity-based clusters.

In addition, we will strengthen the planning-type startup support centered on public technology holding companies, and private specialized organizations will support public research at universities and research institutes.We will establish a private-sector-centered technology commercialization support system, including strengthening asset inspection authority to enable free exploration and utilization of the composition.

Here, we will enhance growth support to help startups overcome the valley of death and expand overseas by linking clusters with programs segmented by startup stage/ministry and providing package support, and jointly promoting global capacity building programs with overseas partner organizations.

In addition, when evaluating the innovation of innovative products, we will prioritize products in the field of deep science, and promote diversification in the types of trial purchase products (goods, software, services, etc.) and purchase methods (purchase, lease, subscription, etc.).

To ensure fair performance distribution and diversify compensation methods, we will establish specific performance-based compensation for the use of external experts, establish a basis for various forms of performance-based compensation, such as stocks, and enact laws to promote the utilization and dissemination of research results and research-based startups. To promote deep science startups, we will establish laws and systems to improve these.

In particular, we plan to establish guidelines that specify cases of conflicts of interest and prevention procedures that public and private researchers encounter during the research commercialization process, to ensure that vague fears do not become obstacles to starting businesses utilizing research results.

Oh Tae-seok, First Vice Minister of Science and ICT, said, “Now is the time to convert the scientific and technological research achievements accumulated through investments in science and technology into economic value,” and added, “The Ministry of Science and ICT will take the lead in activating deep science startups by linking them with the technology commercialization and startup policies of relevant ministries.”