The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced on the 23rd that it has finally selected 100 companies to support for the 'Jump-Up Program' that will be implemented in earnest starting this year.
The 'Jump-Up Program' is a new project jointly announced by relevant ministries at the Economic Ministers' Meeting ('24.8.7) last year to comprehensively and systematically support small and medium-sized enterprises' entry into new businesses and new markets, thereby enabling them to scale up into mid-sized companies.
A total of 620 small and medium-sized enterprises applied for this project, which was being implemented for the first time, and in order to select only companies with excellent growth potential, a two-stage evaluation was conducted over approximately three months by top-level experts in each field, including management, investment, and technology.
First, the first stage of evaluation was conducted by first selecting companies with excellent capabilities by focusing on the technological capabilities and business viability of the applicant companies through a written evaluation of the business plan submitted by the companies and an on-site inspection of the companies.
Next, a second-stage evaluation was conducted using the absolute evaluation method, where companies that passed the first-stage evaluation presented their new business/new market entry strategies and experts from each field held in-depth discussions, to finally select 100 companies with high growth potential.
These are promising SMEs with excellent growth potential, profitability, and innovation, as they have passed strict and professional evaluations by experts in each field. As of the end of 2023, the average sales growth rate of 100 SMEs compared to the previous year was 13.4%, the total asset growth rate was 9.8%, and the operating profit rate was 5.7%, which were 13.4%p, 6.5%p, and 1.7%p higher, respectively, compared to general SMEs in the manufacturing sector.
In addition, 97% of them hold patents, and as of the end of 2023, they are investing 3.4 times more in research and development than general small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing sector, and are continuously investing in research and development to secure unrivaled technological prowess.
And 83% are exporting an average of 12.41 million dollars as of the end of 2023, 41% are companies that have attracted private investment (cumulative average of 15.9 billion won), and 10% are companies that have succeeded in listing on KOSDAQ, so they are companies that have proven their competitiveness in the global market and private investment market.
In particular, companies that are preparing for a new leap forward without hesitation on challenges and innovations in various fields were selected, including a medical device manufacturing company that has achieved the world's No. 1 market share through consistent research and development and bold overseas market development, a food processing company that is rapidly growing to KRW 80 billion in sales through improvement of its business model in a declining industry, and an IT company that won the 'CES Innovation Award' for its artificial intelligence (AI) sign language translation service.
Among the companies above, the medical device manufacturing company plans to secure market competitiveness through its own development of materials necessary for product production, and the food processing company received high marks for its plan to establish new business areas through differentiated functional advancement of its products. In addition, the IT company was positively evaluated for its plan to open up new markets through innovative services. Although each company has different growth goals and business areas, they were all recognized for their technological prowess, market expandability, and growth potential.
We plan to provide comprehensive and systematic support for the 100 companies finally selected this time over the next three years so that they can boldly take on new business and market challenges and achieve stable growth.
First, professional managers (Korea Economic Association), global consulting firms (BCG, KPMG, EY), and research institutes (Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Advanced Institute of Technology) are organized into a single team to operate directing that supports management mentoring, scale-up strategy establishment, and technology roadmap establishment necessary for the process of entering new businesses and new markets. Then, to enable the implementation of scale-up strategies established through directing and bold attempts at commercialization, open vouchers worth KRW 250 million per company per year and up to KRW 750 million for three years are issued to the selected companies.
In addition, we operate a networking program where you can meet the best buyers and global investors, along with customized capacity building to effectively approach overseas expansion and investment attraction necessary for the sustainable growth of companies. In addition, we support the challenges and innovations of selected companies by linking them with various policies such as loans and guarantees, R&D, policy funds, export finance, and smart factories.
Minister Oh Young-joo said, “There are many SMEs that can make a leap forward to become global mid-sized companies with just a little help. The Jump-Up Program is a policy that selects these companies and supports them through joint government and private sector efforts.” He added, “We will continue to communicate closely with and support all 100 SMEs selected this time so that they can grow steadily and invigorate our economy.”
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