On the 28th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the integrated announcement for the '26 Legend 50+ Project Support Project', allocating a total of 49.5 billion won to five areas: consulting (10 billion won), exports (10 billion won), manufacturing innovation (10 billion won), commercialization (18 billion won), and human resources (1.5 billion won). At the same time, the Ministry announced that it would also take measures to reduce administrative and financial burdens in the areas of policy funds, startups and growth, R&D, and guarantees, such as streamlining selection procedures, exempting evaluations or granting bonus points, increasing support limits, and preferential guarantee conditions.
Support structure and amount
The core of this integrated announcement is a package of support covering the entire growth stage. A total of KRW 49.5 billion will be invested, encompassing consulting for initial strategy development and advancement, exports aimed at developing overseas markets, manufacturing innovation aimed at improving productivity and process advancement, commercialization for market penetration after prototypes, and human resources needed for recruitment and capacity building. The budgets specified for each area are KRW 10 billion for consulting, KRW 10 billion for exports, KRW 10 billion for manufacturing innovation, KRW 18 billion for commercialization, and KRW 1.5 billion for human resources.
Beyond funding, procedural improvements are also being implemented. Selection procedures in policy financing, startups and growth, R&D, and guarantees have been streamlined, with some evaluations exempted or given additional points to reduce review time. Increasing the support limit and preferential guarantee terms will improve access to funding, helping to secure cash flow and manage investment execution schedules.
Meaning from a startup/investment perspective
For startups and small and medium-sized manufacturing and technology companies, the relatively large allocation of funds (a total of 28 billion won) to commercialization and exports can have a direct impact on their work. In particular, in areas where product and service market validation and overseas expansion are costly, the ability to simultaneously receive non-financial consulting (strategy, regulation, quality) and financial support helps reduce trial and error costs and improve time-to-performance. Manufacturing innovation and human resources support serve as a pillar of profitability by improving operational indicators such as productivity, quality, and delivery times.
On the investment side, institutional improvements such as streamlined procedures, bonus points, and preferential guarantees will improve the "time-to-investment efficiency." Shorter review and waiting periods can reduce the lead time until cash inflow, thereby reducing dependence on external capital. Improved guarantee conditions and increased support limits can support the working capital and facility investments needed during the growth phase. A smoother link between R&D and commercialization will accelerate the transition from technology to product to sales, potentially positively impacting valuation.
However, the actual impact will depend on the specific requirements, evaluation criteria, and implementation speed of each business. Companies should prioritize consulting, commercialization, exports, manufacturing innovation, and human resources based on their growth stage and bottlenecks. They should also strategically focus the time freed up by institutional improvements on product advancement and sales transformation. Details and application procedures can be found in the integrated announcement.
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