Deep tech startups from state research institutes gain momentum

Government-funded science and technology research institutes are accelerating the commercialization of their technologies through a planned startup initiative. The National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) said it has identified 94 prospective founders over the past three years and is targeting a total of 35 planned startups by the end of this year through intensive support.

NST said Tuesday that pre-startup teams supported through the commercialization joint task force's planned startup platform had achieved a string of results in government startup support projects and competitions in the first half of this year.

As the government pursues technology-based startups and deep tech industry development as core growth strategies, the commercialization of public research outcomes and the promotion of researcher-led startups have emerged as key policy priorities. NST has been at the forefront of building a technology startup ecosystem at government-funded institutes by operating a planned startup support platform in line with that policy direction.

The commercialization joint task force goes beyond simple startup support, operating a system centered on "planned startups" that turns researchers' advanced technologies into concrete business items aligned with market demand. The platform provides systematic support across the entire startup process — from developing commercialization strategies that account for technology readiness and market viability, to assembling management and technical teams, providing accelerator support, and linking teams to cross-ministry startup support projects.

Last year, at the "Challenge! K-Startup 2025" researcher league, teams participating in the task force's planned startup challenge program won the grand prize and excellence award in the pre-startup category, and went on to compete in the pre-startup league championship, where they took the top prize — the Prime Minister's Award.

In the first half of this year, teams from the platform were selected for government startup support projects run by external agencies, including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Korea Intellectual Property Office, the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration, Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and regional technoparks.

Notably, 16 teams were selected under the pre-startup package's in-house venture category, securing more than 1.3 billion won ($887,000) in commercialization funding. An additional 18 teams secured 900 million won through the Texcore project, and four teams secured 1.1 billion won through the deep science startup activation support project — all strong results at the pre-startup stage.

Beyond those, two teams were linked to a startup-focused university support project and two more to a deep tech support project under the five special and three special research development zone program, laying a stable foundation for startup preparation.

At the recently held 2026 Daedeok Special Zone Deep Tech Pre-Startup Competition, Park Cheol-hun, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, took the grand prize; Park Cheol-ho of the Korea Institute of Energy Research won the excellence award; and Yoo Seung-nam and Chae Gil-byeong of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute received the merit award.

In the pre-startup track of a science and technology startup competition, three teams passed the presentation review, and three more teams advanced past the first round of the "Everyone's Startup Project" and are currently being evaluated for the second round. The platform's significance lies in building a growth ladder that connects teams to follow-on startup support projects rather than offering one-time assistance.

The planned startup platform has also expanded collaboration among government-funded institutes, serving as a hub for spreading the startup ecosystem. Cases are consistently growing in which researchers from different institutes form joint startup teams, or a single team is consecutively selected for multiple startup support projects and advances through successive stages of commercialization.

"Through the planned startup platform, we will continue to expand inter-agency cooperation and startup support so that the excellent research outcomes of government-funded institutes can lead to new companies and industries in the market," Hong Seong-gwan, head of NST's technology commercialization division, said. "We will also strengthen support so that research outcomes can spread into industry and the market not only through technology transfer but also through startups."