The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Han Sung-sook, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced that it will be recruiting TIPS operators from September 16 (Tuesday) to September 30 (Tuesday) targeting investment companies with investment and nurturing capabilities, such as startup planners and early-stage specialized VCs.
TIPS is a public-private cooperative startup support system in which the government provides support through research and development (R&D) and startup commercialization funds, while private operators utilize their expertise and capabilities to select and invest in startups.
To date, over 3,700 startups have participated, attracting follow-up investments worth over 17 trillion won, establishing it as Korea's leading startup support program.
In particular, as the new administration's economic growth strategy has identified the identification of promising companies through TIPS as a key task, the TIPS program will be significantly strengthened. As a first step, the number of operators who will identify and recommend promising companies will be significantly increased. Currently, 120 operators are active, and this announcement will recruit approximately 30 additional operators. Key features of this recruitment include:
First, to revitalize the local startup ecosystem, investment firms located outside the metropolitan area will receive the highest possible points. Second, to strengthen integration with upstream and downstream businesses, investment firms with excellent FreeTips recommendations and ScaleupTips operators will receive additional points. Third, to strengthen performance management for operators, the selected operators will be designated as preliminary operators and, after a two-year evaluation, will be converted to general operators.
Kyung-won Cho, Director of Startup Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The reason TIPS was able to be evaluated as a successful program was thanks to the active participation of capable operators.” He added, “We hope that excellent investors will be drawn to TIPS operators, which will actively discover promising technology startups and provide more growth opportunities, thereby revitalizing the startup ecosystem.”
Investors wishing to participate in the TIPS operation can apply through the TIPS website from September 16 to September 30, 6:00 PM.
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