The Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) announced on the 3rd that it has been designated as the “No. 1 Venture Business Support Specialized Institution” by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. A “Venture Business Support Specialized Institution” systematically conducts projects to promote the growth of venture businesses and is designated by the ministry among organizations, corporations, or entities equipped with professional personnel with relevant experience, dedicated organizations for support projects, and necessary facilities for conducting support projects.
The photo shows the main office of the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, designated as the “No. 1 Venture Business Support Specialized Institution” by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
KOTEC submitted an application for designation following the implementation of the amended “Special Act on the Promotion of Venture Businesses” in January, passing the ministry’s qualification screening process and was officially designated as a specialized institution on the 27th of last month.
Since its establishment in 1989, KOTEC has provided guarantees to SMEs and venture businesses, achieving accumulated guarantee support of 473 trillion won and 860,000 technology evaluations as of the end of June this year, demonstrating its capability in technology evaluation and policy support. Additionally, KOTEC has over 1 million consultations and on-site evaluation experiences, thanks to its long-accumulated intangible asset evaluation system.
Furthermore, to aid the scale-up of SMEs and venture businesses, KOTEC has expanded various policy support programs, supporting approximately 10,000 venture companies with 7.7 trillion won in technology guarantees for the 20,000 venture firms discovered, which account for over half of all venture companies.
Kim Jong-ho, chairman of KOTEC, stated, “We have been a steadfast support for SMEs and venture businesses over the past 35 years. With our designation as a Venture Business Support Specialized Institution, we will expand systematic growth strategies to accelerate the scale-up and global expansion of venture businesses.”
Meanwhile, KOTEC has established and operates a dedicated platform for the identification and nurturing of social venture companies. It applies various preferential terms through a specialized guarantee product called the Social Venture Impact Guarantee for social venture companies. In collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, KOTEC plans to expand its policy role in venture business support by operating various support projects and stable, systematic venture support systems, including venture business discovery, commercialization promotion, and policy development tasks.