MSS to Inject Record 18.7 Trillion Won Next Year, Strengthening the Growth Ladder

[Financial News] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will deploy a record budget next year to strengthen the growth ladder from startup to growth, leap forward and a second attempt. It also plans to raise the number of participants in "Everyone's Startup" to 20,000 and expand startup cities outside the Seoul metropolitan area to 10.
The ministry will also focus on projects that spread the benefits of growth to small business owners, traditional markets and local commercial districts. Under the plan, 2 million small business owners will receive 100,000 won each to help cover the cost of health checkups.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 1st that it will submit a 2027 budget proposal of 18.0724 trillion won to the National Assembly on the 3rd, up 9.4% from this year's main budget.
First, it allocated 441.1 billion won to "Everyone's Startup," a platform for nurturing startup talent. The number of participants will rise from 15,000 this year to 20,000 next year, and the maximum amount of stage-based commercialization funding will increase from 20 million won to 30 million won.
Startup cities outside the Seoul metropolitan area will also be expanded from four to 10.
The budget for the Fund of Funds contribution, aimed at increasing venture investment in early-stage startups, regional companies, and artificial intelligence and deep-tech firms, was set at a record 1.3 trillion won. Of that amount, the contribution for startup funds will double from 240 billion won to 480 billion won.
The ministry newly allocated 124 billion won for support for win-win delivery apps, which are intended to ease the monopoly of private delivery platforms and reduce the burden on small business owners.
Of the 12 public delivery apps operating nationwide, the ministry plans to select three to four with strong public value and marketability as win-win delivery apps.
It is also reviewing a plan to jointly select nationwide public delivery apps and public delivery apps operated by metropolitan and basic local governments. Local currency and Onnuri Gift Certificates will also be linked to the win-win delivery apps. No Yongseok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said at a pre-briefing on Aug. 31, "We will foster public delivery apps into win-win delivery apps that consumers, small business owners and riders want to use, in order to ease the monopoly of private delivery platforms."
The social security system will also be strengthened for small business owners, who have been criticized for lacking a sufficient social safety net.
The ministry newly set aside 205 billion won for a health care support program that covers business suspension costs and substitute worker wages when small business owners undergo national health checkups. The current budget plan is designed to provide 100,000 won per person to 2 million small business owners.
The general management stabilization fund, a loan program for small business owners, will be converted into an interest subsidy program for loans worth 2 trillion won. Including 2.25 trillion won in direct loans, the ministry will provide a total of 4.25 trillion won in financing.
Innovative companies in new growth sectors will also receive focused support. The ministry will select 300 innovative firms in four key new growth areas — new security, climate tech, pharmaceuticals and biotech, and K-Consumer Goods — and provide multi-year, tailored support. To help commercialize technologies developed by new growth innovators, it has allocated 54 billion won to a technology commercialization package. It will also invest 3.8 billion won to establish a specialized security investment institution, similar to In-Q-Tel (IQT) in the United States, that directly invests in new security innovation and candidate companies.
The ministry newly allocated 172.8 billion won to projects that support technology demonstrations for venture and startup companies in physical AI and the AI transformation of small and medium-sized manufacturing sites.
Vice Minister No explained, "We will expand the introduction of interest subsidies for loan programs, abolish routine small-scale support projects, and focus investment on key initiatives."
[email protected] Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter