[Provided by North Gyeongsang Province]
[Provided by North Gyeongsang Province]

Nine startups from North Gyeongsang Province secured 3.68 billion won ($2.75 million) in investment at the 2026 North Gyeongsang Startup Investment Matching Day, the provincial government announced Wednesday.

The event, held Tuesday and Wednesday at Gumico in Gumi, drew 103 startups and 32 investment firms, along with 15 regional innovation institutions, seven large and mid-sized companies, and eight financial institutions.

The province holds the investment matching event annually to help startups with strong technology and ideas secure timely funding suited to their stage of growth.

At last year's event, 11 participating companies attracted 13.1 billion won in investment. Three were selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' TIPS program, and one completed a merger and acquisition.

The province has built a full-spectrum support system covering every stage of company growth — from identifying promising startups through its "Everyone's Startup" initiative, to establishing the G-Star Fund of more than 1 trillion won, connecting companies with private investors, supporting TIPS entry, nurturing pre-unicorn firms, facilitating open innovation with large and mid-sized companies, and linking startups with financial institutions.

Through end-to-end support spanning startup discovery and development, direct investment, follow-on funding and global expansion, the province had nurtured 13 "baby unicorn" companies as of the end of 2025. A total of 73 companies had been selected for the TIPS program, and startups from the province had received 30 CES Innovation Awards.

At CES 2026, five North Gyeongsang companies received Innovation Awards, further demonstrating the technological competitiveness of the province's startup ecosystem.

"For startups to leap forward into growth-stage companies, having an environment where they can secure investment at the right time — on top of strong technology and ideas — is essential," North Gyeongsang Province Deputy Governor for Economy Yang Geum-hee said. "We hope the investment discussions at this matching day will lead to follow-on funding, further strengthening the growth momentum of North Gyeongsang startups."


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