TIPS Town in Seoul, Pohang and Daejeon: what tenancy actually requires

TIPS Town is usually described as one thing. Its own site describes three campuses, in Seoul, Pohang and Daejeon, each with its own rules. None of the three runs the same way.

Seoul: six buildings, TIPS-only

Seoul TIPS Town spans six buildings in Gangnam-gu''s Yeoksam-ro area, listed below. Eligibility is narrow: TIPS-selected companies and TIPS operators only, per the site''s own tenancy page.

Tenancy runs a base two-year contract, extendable one year at a time after an extension evaluation. Recruitment opens whenever a unit becomes vacant, not on a fixed annual date. The process runs announcement, application, document evaluation, contract, then move-in.

Pohang: a public-private TIPS Town that charges rent

Pohang''s TIPS Town, run as Changeup Ground Pohang and BOIC, calls itself the first public-private TIPS Town outside the capital region.

Eligibility is a corporation under seven years old, or a pre-founder; ten years for new-industry sectors. TIPS restricts some space to companies already performing under a TIPS agreement.

A private office or wet-lab tenant pays rent of 11,800 won per square metre. It also pays a management fee of 7,100 won per square metre. A deposit, worth five months of both including tax, is due upfront.

A shared-membership seat costs a flat 115,000 won a month instead.

Applications close on the 10th of every month, filed online. Attachments include a business plan, business registration certificate, corporate registry extract and four-major-insurance enrolment list.

Review runs a suitability check, a document screening, then a contract. Move-in follows on the first of the next month.

Daejeon: the one built for foreign founders explicitly

Daejeon''s TIPS Town sits at 99 Daehak-ro in Yuseong-gu. Its own page calls it the first TIPS Town outside the capital region, built to spread startup investment activity away from Seoul.

It holds 22 private offices, a 43-seat co-working space, a 25-seat solo co-working space, meeting rooms and a conference hall.

Its first and second floors run a global co-working space jointly with Yuseong-gu district government. TIPS''s own page states this space supports prospective founders and foreign founders. It is the only one of the three towns whose own page names foreign founders directly.

Daejeon also runs TIPS Academy mentoring, a global accelerating track for overseas market entry and exhibitions, and university-linked manpower matching. Its conference hall and meeting rooms are free to book for a startup-related event. Bookings run up to 30 days ahead, through TIPS''s own reservation system.

For the wider set of institutions a foreign founder deals with in Korea, see the ecosystem directory.