The Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (CEO Won-kyung Kim, hereinafter referred to as the Gyeonggi Innovation Center) announced that it received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award in the category of fostering a private venture startup ecosystem at the '2025 Venture Startup Promotion Merit' ceremony.
The 'Venture Startup Promotion Merit' is a government award presented annually by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to organizations, companies, and individuals who have contributed to the creation of the domestic startup ecosystem. This year's award ceremony was held on November 27th at the Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center.
The Gyeonggi Innovation Center has played a crucial role in revitalizing the domestic startup ecosystem, discovering and nurturing a cumulative 1,513 startups over the past decade. It was selected for this award for its efforts to foster deep-tech startups, expand the local startup base, and strengthen global expansion programs.
The Center has established a multi-layered startup support model that connects the public, private, and global sectors. As the operator of TIPS and the Korea Mother Fund, it supports the growth of technology-based startups and has established various funds, including the Public Technology Commercialization Mother Fund, to strengthen the investment base for early-stage companies.
Furthermore, serving as the global strategic hub for the National Creative Economy Innovation Center, the center has also achieved tangible global scale-up results. This year, it pursued open innovation with six global companies, including Volvo, Radial, and Unilever, connecting 107 incubation companies and securing commercialization results, including two Radial PoCs and two Unilever LOIs.
Joint investments (Club Deals) with overseas VCs expanded from KRW 2.9 billion in 2024 to KRW 3.1 billion in 2025, and global inbound and outbound investment performance was also strengthened, including linking a total of KRW 8.37 billion in follow-up investments to overseas startups that have established themselves in Korea through the K-Startup Grand Challenge.
Through regional programs such as the Pangyo Startup Zone, Gyeonggi-do Open Innovation, and the Climate Tech Incubation Project, the city has enhanced its full-cycle support system, encompassing R&D, commercialization, and global expansion. In 2024, the city invested in 42 companies, ranking 7th nationwide in accelerator investment performance, with the Creative Economy Innovation Center being the only one among the top 10. Last year, the city also achieved significant results, supporting 120 companies with a total investment of KRW 476.2 billion.
Furthermore, with the establishment of a new fund of approximately KRW 6.2 billion, selected for the early stage of the mother fund's small-scale sector, future investment performance is expected to expand. The average investment amount per company reached KRW 3.9 billion, and the number of companies attracting over KRW 10 billion in investment reached 12, a 51% increase year-on-year.
An official from the Gyeonggi Innovation Center said, “The foundation of this award is the establishment of a system centered on practical results, from the discovery of deep-tech startups to their global expansion,” and added, “We will continue to strengthen our innovation program as a growth hub for the Korean startup ecosystem.”
- See more related articles
You must be logged in to post a comment.