Forum held at UNIST on boosting youth entrepreneurship

University research, large-industry base to be linked

28 billion won for 160 deep-tech startups

First stop on two-day trip through Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young [Yonhap]
Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young [Yonhap]

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young pledged Friday to actively support young entrepreneurs and help startup companies in the regions grow.

Lee made the remarks at a forum on boosting youth entrepreneurship held at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), saying "it is important to create an environment where young people's ideas and universities' research outcomes lead to startups that can grow in collaboration with large companies."

The forum marked the first stop on Lee's two-day field trip through Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province, running through Saturday. The visit is the second regional field trip following an earlier visit to the Chungcheong region, and was organized to explore ways to energize startup activity by leveraging local talent and industrial infrastructure.

Ulsan is an industrial city home to universities and research institutions, including UNIST, as well as major conglomerates such as Hyundai Motor Company and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups believes that linking universities' research capabilities with the region's key industries — including automobiles and shipbuilding — can help drive technology-based entrepreneurship.

Tech startups typically require significant time and capital to validate their technology and bring research and development results to market as actual products and services. The manufacturing sector poses a particular challenge, as securing production facilities and testing environments places a heavy burden on early-stage companies trying to enter the market on their own. Analysts say that combining universities' research capabilities with large companies' production facilities and technology-verification infrastructure can ease the commercialization burden on startups and improve their chances of reaching the market.

Ulsan is also one of the "startup cities" the ministry designated in April. The ministry is working to establish what it calls a "manufacturing AI startup city," which would allow startups to tap into the manufacturing infrastructure and verification data held by large and mid-sized companies in the region. The core of the initiative is building a cooperative framework that connects technologies developed at universities with real-world manufacturing sites for testing and commercialization.

Lee toured UNIST's research infrastructure Friday to assess the foundation for technology-based startups, then received briefings on UNIST's deep-tech-focused startup university program and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' youth startup support and open innovation initiatives.

This year, the ministry is running a deep-tech-focused startup university program targeting four science and technology institutes, including UNIST. The program commits 28 billion won ($21 million) to support the commercialization and growth of 160 startup companies.

At the forum, young entrepreneurs shared the challenges they face on the ground, and participants discussed ways to translate university research outcomes into actual startups. Cooperation between large companies and startups on technology verification, commercialization and market expansion was also a key agenda item.

Lee described Ulsan as "the ideal location for technology-based startups, equipped with outstanding research talent and the industrial base of world-class large companies," emphasizing the importance of leveraging the region's industrial foundation and university research capabilities to energize tech entrepreneurship.

Following the UNIST visit, Lee is scheduled to visit small and mid-sized manufacturers in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, related to AI data centers, as well as an industrial hemp regulation-free zone in Andong. On Saturday, Lee plans to visit local commercial districts in Yeongju and attend the opening ceremony of the Korea Grand Festival in Andong.


boo@heraldcorp.com