Inviting Startups to Join Open Innovation Projects with Major Corporations and Public Institutions
| Division | Spokesperson's Office | |||
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| Date | 2026.02.19 | |||
| Writer | Foreign Media Spokesperson | |||
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Startups seeking to collaborate with leading corporations and public institutions on defined industry challenges will soon have a new opportunity to do so. The Ministry has opened applications for its Public-Private Open Innovation (Strategic Challenge Track) Program, with submissions accepted from 20 February to 19 March. The initiative connects startups with large corporations and public institutions seeking to solve defined strategic challenges through external innovation. As open innovation gains further momentum globally, the “venture client” model – in which established organizations adopt startup technologies and solutions to accelerate value creation – is expected to remain a dominant approach in 2026. Recent data underscores this trend. A survey of the world’s top 100 innovation-driven companies indicates that 41% plan to increase their open innovation budgets in 2026, compared with 25% the previous year. Domestically, participation has also risen sharply: the number of applying corporations and institutions grew from 68 to 90 year-on-year, while submitted challenge proposals increased from 94 to 126. 30 Strategic Challenges Identified Following a demand assessment and evaluation process that began in late December, 30 challenge projects have been shortlisted across a diverse group of organizations, including Kakao Mobility, LIG Nex1 and Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water). Through this open call, MSS plans to select approximately 30 startups to work alongside these partners in delivering solutions to the identified challenges. Expanded Financial and Operational Support Selected startups will receive up to KRW 140 million (approximately USD 100,000) in project funding – an increase of KRW 20 million from the previous year. In addition to financial support, participants will be offered tailored consulting and specialist training to facilitate effective collaboration. Corporate and institutional partners may provide demonstration infrastructure, operational data and access to professional personnel to support proof-of-concept and deployment. Startups demonstrating strong collaboration outcomes will also be eligible to apply for follow-on R&D support and commercialization funding through linked government programs. Applications can be submitted through the K-Startup portal (www.k-startup.go.kr), where detailed information about the Strategic Challenge Track is available. Multiple Pathways for Open Innovation Alongside the strategic challenge track, MSS has selected 30 additional open innovation programs under its Private Selection and Recommendation Track. Major corporations with established open innovation platforms – including Hyundai Motor Group’s ZERO1NE and Samsung Electronics’ C-Lab Outside – have newly joined the scheme. Startups selected through these corporate programs may receive follow-on government support upon recommendation. In addition, MSS plans to expand its Mutual Autonomous Matching Track, which enables companies and startups to identify collaboration partners independently through the national open innovation intermediary platform (oimarket.kr). The program will begin with corporate meetups in February, with a formal call for applications to follow in March. By broadening collaboration channels and strengthening incentives, MSS aims to accelerate the integration of startup innovation into mainstream industry – ensuring that promising technologies move quickly from development to real-world application.
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