S. Korea opens applications for innovative product designation to boost SME public procurement access

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is linking research and development outcomes to the public procurement market to help small and medium-sized enterprises secure early sales channels.

The ministry said Thursday it will accept applications for the "2026 Second-Half Innovative Product Designation" from Friday through Aug. 10.

The innovative product designation system selects products developed through SME R&D support projects that demonstrate strong public value and technological innovation, then helps them enter the public procurement market. Public institutions purchase designated products first and verify their performance in real-world settings, building the credibility companies need to later enter the private market. Procurement track records accumulated through the program are frequently used as references when companies pursue private-sector clients and overseas markets.

Eligible applicants are small and medium-sized enterprises that successfully completed an R&D project under the ministry's purview within the past five years and have since commercialized the resulting technology. Submitted products will undergo evaluations of public value and technological innovation, followed by a procurement suitability review by the Public Procurement Service and deliberation by the Ministry of Economy and Finance's Procurement Policy Deliberation Committee, with final designations announced in December.

Products that receive the designation gain a range of public procurement benefits. For up to six years from the date of designation, companies may enter into sole-source contracts with central government agencies, local governments and public institutions, and their products are included in the public institution innovative product purchase target program and priority purchasing list. Companies also gain the opportunity to participate in the Public Procurement Service's innovative product pilot purchase program, under which the government directly buys products for use and performance verification at public institutions, allowing companies to secure early proof-of-concept results and references.

In the first half of this year, the ministry designated 32 products, including an AI-based waste management system called Mango Global, a real-time situational-awareness anti-drone gun, an AI-based non-invasive blood glucose monitor and an arc-elimination device for power equipment. The products are set to improve public services across a range of sectors, including environmental management, disaster safety, healthcare and industrial safety.

To help companies understand the program, the ministry will hold an information session Wednesday at the Yonsei Severance Building in Seoul. The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and the Korea Institute of Public Procurement will participate to explain the application process and public procurement system. Applications are submitted online through the Small and Medium Business Technology Development Project Integrated Management System, known as SMTECH.

"We hope that the R&D achievements of small and medium-sized enterprises will bear fruit through the innovative product designation by opening doors to the public procurement market," said Hwang Young-ho, the ministry's director general for technology innovation policy. "We will actively support excellent technologies in meeting their first customer — the public market — and turning that into innovative growth."