Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support startups using public data, selecting around 20 companies

The program launches this year and will accept applications for collaboration projects from public institutions and startups until the 31st

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will launch this year a program to support startups that use public data and will begin recruiting collaboration projects.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (First Vice Minister No Yong-seok acting as minister, hereafter MSS) on the 10th, the MSS will recruit collaboration projects for its “Public Data Utilization Support” program from Nov. 11 through Nov. 31.

The program is designed to support startups that use data held by public institutions to push ahead with technology verification (PoC) and commercialization. Based on the collaboration projects it solicits, the MSS plans to select about 20 startups and provide about 100 million won per company on average.

The program will run in two types: a “top-down(Top-Down)” approach in which public institutions propose tasks, and a “bottom-up(Bottom-Up)” approach in which startups put forward proposed tasks.

In the top-down type, when a public institution proposes a collaboration project using open data, the MSS matches it with the startup that will carry out the project.

In the bottom-up type, startups propose collaboration projects that use public institutions’ non-public data. The MSS will support the opening and use of the data needed by cooperating with the “Business Public Data Problem-Solving Support Center” of the National Information Society Agency (NIA).

A survey by the MSS, “2025 Public Data Utilization Company Survey,” found that 58.5% of companies using public data said it helped improve efficiency and productivity. Responses that it helped with service enhancement came in at 41.8%, while 26.7% said it helped expand target customers for products and services.

Cho Gyeong-won, a policymaker at the MSS for startup support, said, “Data accumulated by public institutions is an important resource that can lead to public service innovation that the public can feel, as it combines with innovative technologies from startups to create new markets.” He added, “The MSS will support the entire process, from opening and securing data to commercialization.”

Business applications can be submitted through the K-Startup website’s collaboration project recruitment notice for “Public Data Utilization Open Innovation.”