547 firms selected in second round of Innovation Premier program

The Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, along with the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy and 14 ministries in total, announced Monday that 547 small and midsize enterprises had been selected for the second round of this year's Innovation Premier 1000 program.

Innovation Premier 1000 is a program designed to provide intensive support to outstanding companies in each industry through collaboration between the financial and industrial sectors. It has been in operation since last year, consolidating several similar support programs that had previously run separately.

In the first round, 13 ministries selected 509 companies (excluding duplicates) and provided preferential benefits. Of those, 457 companies received financial support — including interest rate reductions and guarantee fee cuts — totaling 3,202 cases worth 4.91 trillion won ($3.31 billion) through May of this year, while 127 companies received non-financial support such as a total of 246 IR opportunities.

With the selection of 547 companies this year, a total of 1,005 Innovation Premier firms (excluding duplicates) are now receiving support. Excluding companies selected by multiple ministries or reselected from the previous round, 496 firms have been newly added to the Innovation Premier roster.

All 547 companies selected this round operate in sectors designated as innovative growth industries. By sector (including overlaps), the breakdown is: manufacturing and mobility, 107; AI, 95; environment and smart agri-fisheries, 85; ICT and digital, 63; convergence knowledge services, 34; biotech and health, 59; energy, 46; materials and components, 38; and semiconductors and displays, 30.

By region, 290 companies — or 55.8 percent — are based in the Greater Seoul metropolitan area of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, while 230 are located outside the capital region. By size, 514 are small enterprises and six are midsize companies.

Selected companies can submit financial and non-financial support applications online or in person to the Policy Finance Comprehensive Support Team, which comprises Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea and Export-Import Bank of Korea.

The support team will assign a dedicated policy finance institution to each company and provide tailored assistance. Benefits available through each institution's dedicated products include preferential loan rates and credit limits, as well as reduced guarantee ratios and guarantee fee discounts. Non-financial services such as an investment platform connecting companies with venture capital firms and management consulting are also available.

Some ministries, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, are also applying additional ministry-specific program benefits for Innovation Premier companies under their jurisdiction.

Companies selected in the second round are eligible for benefits through the end of 2027. Related ministries plan to conduct a third round of applications in the first half of next year, selecting around 500 additional companies to ensure that approximately 1,000 Innovation Premier firms receive support annually.