The Korean government has reaffirmed its commitment to nurturing world-class deep-tech startups through its flagship “Super Gap Startup 1000+ Project(DIPS),” showcasing both impressive early results and expanded support measures during the recent “2025 Super Gap Startup Renovation Day” held in Seoul.

Hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) under Minister OH Youngju’s leadership, the May 13th event at Seoul’s Fairmont Ambassador Hotel highlighted the government’s strategic shift from industry-agnostic support to targeted investment in specialized deep-tech sectors that could drive Korea’s future economic competitiveness.

“Over the past two years, MSS’s Super Gap Project has generated significant achievements for deep-tech startups, yet we continue to hear strong calls from the field for even greater support,” said Minister OH. “We will continue to provide comprehensive policy support to ensure that Korea’s deep-tech startups can leverage the Super Gap Project as a springboard to grow into global unicorns.”

Strategic Long-Term Investment

The Super Gap initiative represents Korea’s most substantial multi-year technology commercialization program, running from 2023 to 2027 with the ambitious goal of transforming over 1,000 deep-tech startups in 10 key emerging industries into global unicorns. Currently, 407 startups have been selected and are receiving support, with an additional 182 companies chosen in 2025 through a highly competitive process that saw an application-to-acceptance ratio of nearly 14 to 1.

The program’s comprehensive support package includes up to 600 million KRW (approximately $440,000) in commercialization funding over three years, with qualifying startups potentially receiving an additional 600 million KRW in R&D funding based on separate evaluations. This brings the total direct financial support to 1.1 billion KRW (approximately $800,000) per company, complemented by access to policy funds, guarantees, and export assistance.

Promising Early Results

The initiative is already showing impressive results. Among the 407 supported companies, two have achieved unicorn status, including AI semiconductor company Rebellions Inc., while 15 others have reached “pre-unicorn” valuations exceeding 100 billion KRW (approximately $73 million).

Performance metrics for the supported startups are equally encouraging, with average revenue growth of 4.4%, employment increases of 18.5%, and cumulative investment attraction up by 43.2% compared to pre-support levels. Additionally, through specialized investment and scale-up programs, seven startups secured 32 billion KRW in investment, nine companies achieved KOSDAQ listings, and 35 startups received Innovation Awards at CES 2024 and 2025.

Expanded Global Scale-Up Support

The Korean government is now enhancing its support ecosystem with three new initiatives designed to accelerate global market penetration:

1. Super Gap Link-Up Program: Facilitating strategic partnerships between deep-tech startups and major corporations or institutions in four key sectors: Bio/Health, Future Mobility, Robotics, and Green/Energy. These collaborations will enable market access, investment opportunities, and global expansion through joint ventures, clinical trials, proof-of-concept validations, and certification processes.
   
2. Super Gap VC Membership: Creating a consortium of 20 venture capital and corporate venture capital firms focused on deep-tech sectors to provide regular investment pitching opportunities, open innovation platforms, and networking events specifically tailored to Super Gap startups.
   
3. Super Gap Tech-IPO Connect: Establishing partnerships with eight major securities firms to provide specialized support for Super Gap startups preparing for public listings, further strengthening their global scale-up potential.
   

The Super Gap Project exemplifies South Korea’s determination to position itself as a global deep-tech powerhouse by providing exceptionally robust, multi-year support for promising startups in strategic sectors like AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, and green energy. Through this initiative, Korea is creating a comprehensive ecosystem that nurtures innovation from early-stage development through to global market leadership.