Korea startup programs and visas, explained

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

팁스타운(TIPS Town): 서울·포항·대전 입주 안내

TIPS Town is three separate campuses, each run under different rules: Seoul restricts tenancy to TIPS-selected companies and operators, Pohang charges commercial rent with a monthly application deadline, and Daejeon runs a co-working floor its own page states supports foreign founders directly.

TIPS operators by type, region and sector: what the 145-operator list shows a foreign founder

팁스(TIPS) 운영사, 유형·지역·분야로 보기

TIPS's own operator directory lists 145 designated operators, retrieved 2026-09-24. Computed from that snapshot: accelerators are the largest type at 59, Seoul holds 55 percent of all operators, and AI is the most-listed sector. A third of the list was designated in the last two years.

Seoul Global Center: business consultation for foreign residents

서울글로벌센터 창업 상담 서비스

Seoul Global Center runs a professional consulting service for foreign residents covering legal, corporate, tax, management, labour, visa, property and patent questions, alongside OASIS programme categories including corporation establishment and incubation office support. Its own site publishes the booking method and consulting categories; it does not print fee or eligibility detail beyond the booking form.

Pangyo Startup Campus: 60 seats, and a "Global" track that still wants a Pangyo address

판교 스타트업캠퍼스: 60개 좌석과 판교 주소를 요구하는 '글로벌' 트랙

The Pangyo Startup Campus, run through Gyeonggi's startup platform, incubates 60 companies across three tracks including a Growth/Global category. Its separate Global Startup programme, aimed at overseas expansion, requires the applicant to already be based in Pangyo or Gyeonggi Province.

Gangwon Technopark: two specialist platforms behind a script-loaded homepage

강원테크노파크 소개

Gangwon Technopark (GWTP) is based in Chuncheon and runs at least two named platforms: a digital-health platform and a research-equipment information network. Its main site loads most section content through client-side scripts, so this post states only what a plain fetch could confirm, and flags the rest as unverified.

Daegu Technopark: its divisions, tenancy and support lines

대구테크노파크 소개

Daegu Technopark's own English site records a 1998 founding and lists six industry divisions covering robotics and mobility, advanced manufacturing, medical and bio, and urban innovation, alongside a university centre. Its history page lists specific facility openings from 2002 to 2022; none of the pages checked state a foreign-founder eligibility rule.

LINC 3.0: the industry-academia programme funding 76 Korean campuses

LINC 3.0 사업과 대학 내 창업 지원

LINC 3.0 is the Ministry of Education's third-phase industry-academia cooperation programme, funding 76 universities across three categories. The Ministry's own release states the university count and the 2022 budget figure; it does not itemise a startup-centre budget line, and this article does not invent one.

University technology holding companies, with Seoul National University Technology Holdings as the worked case

대학 기술지주회사와 서울대학교기술지주

A technology holding company is a legally defined structure: a company controlled by a university industry-academic cooperation unit or research institute, formed to commercialise the university's technology through equity stakes in subsidiary spinoffs. Seoul National University Technology Holdings, founded in 2008, is the worked example, using its own published programme list.

Korea Innovation Center (KIC): why its overseas offices are not a door into Korea

Korea Innovation Center (KIC) is a network of government-linked offices abroad, including Silicon Valley, DC, Europe and China. KIC Silicon Valley's own page states its mission as helping Korean tech startups validate and grow in the US market, and NIPA, the agency that runs it, names its target as "domestic ICT and science-technology startups." A foreign founder looking for a way into Korea will not find one through KIC.

Seoul Global Startup Center: the city's own centre for foreign founders

서울글로벌창업센터(Seoul GSC) 입주 안내

Seoul Global Startup Center (Seoul GSC) is a Seoul Metropolitan Government facility in Yongsan-gu built for foreign founders, distinct from the similarly-named Global Startup Center run nationally by MSS and KISED in Gangnam-gu. The city's own site publishes three applicant tiers, a one-year renewable membership and a stated maximum funding figure.

Seoul Business Agency (SBA): the city agency behind Seoul Startup Hub

서울경제진흥원(SBA): 서울창업허브를 운영하는 시 산하 기관

SBA (서울경제진흥원) is Seoul city's SME and startup support agency. Its own pages name several Seoul Startup Hub locations but disagree on the count, and none of the pages fetched for this post state a foreign-founder eligibility rule.

Sejong Technopark: tenancy, a technology-doctor consulting line and a regulation-complaint desk

세종테크노파크 입주와 지원사업

Sejong Technopark (SJTP) recruits resident companies year-round for its Jochiwon-eup campus, runs a one-on-one "Technology Doctor" consulting programme, and operates a dedicated desk for reporting business regulation problems. Its homepage does not state a foreign-company condition.

Gwangju Technopark: its complexes, tenancy and support lines

광주테크노파크 소개

Gwangju Technopark's own history page records designation as a technopark operator in December 1997, corporate establishment approval from the Ministry of Industry and Resources in December 1998, and an opening in February 1999 as Gwangju-Jeollanam-do Technopark, renamed Gwangju Technopark in March 2004. Its pages list named complexes and support centres; none state a foreign-founder eligibility rule.

MARU180 and MARU360: the Asan Nanum Foundation's Yeoksam-ro startup centres

아산나뉀재단 마루180과 마루360 입주 지원

MARU180 and MARU360 are startup centres run by the Asan Nanum Foundation on Yeoksam-ro in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The foundation's own pages describe space, mentoring and benefits support, plus a specific recruitment round's eligibility and two-stage selection process. The maru180.com address does not serve a working site; the foundation's own domains do.

Seoul Food Startup Center: tenancy, facilities and support tracks

서울먹거리창업센터 입주와 지원사업

The Seoul Food Startup Center is a city-founded incubator in Gangdong-gu for agri-food companies, offering free office space, an open kitchen and laboratory, mentoring and investment matching. Its own site publishes the building layout, tenancy terms and, as of the page fetched, a February 2017 snapshot of resident companies.

GBSA (경기도경제과학진흥원): a 1997 SME foundation that now runs a foreign-investor centre

GBSA(경기도경제과학진흥원): 1997년 중소기업재단에서 외국인투자기업지원센터까지

GBSA is Gyeonggi Province's economic and science promotion foundation, formed by a 2017 merger of two provincial bodies with roots back to 1997. Its own pages name a Foreign-invested Enterprise Support Center, an eight-hub startup-space network including Pangyo, and an overseas-investment line called Invest Gyeonggi.

Jeonbuk Technopark: six sites, four support lines, one English portal

전북테크노파크 시설과 사업 안내

Jeonbuk Technopark (JBTP) runs an English portal at jbtp.or.kr/eng and lists sites in Jeonju, Wanju, Buan and Iksan, each tied to a sector: automotive and carbon materials, renewable energy, medical convergence, and design. Its pages do not state a foreign-company condition; the current notice for a specific site decides that.

Daejeon Technopark: its centres, tenancy and support lines

대전테크노파크 소개

Daejeon Technopark's own site records incorporation by the Ministry of Industry and Resources on December 26, 2002, an operating start in January 2003 as the Daejeon Advanced Industry Promotion Foundation, and a rename to Daejeon Technopark on March 1, 2008. Its pages describe named centres and business-support programmes; none state a foreign-founder eligibility rule.

D.CAMP and Front1: the bank-funded foundation's Seoul startup spaces

은행권청년창업재단의 디캄프와 프론트원

D.CAMP runs two Seoul office locations for startups: Seolleung, open since 2013, and Mapo, open since 2020 and marketed as FRONT1. Its own site publishes the entry route, the fee and the eligibility profile it targets. The front1.kr address itself now redirects to dcamp.kr rather than serving its own site.

KVIC and the fund of funds: why most Korean VC money is partly public

한국벤처투자(KVIC)와 모태펀드

Korea Venture Investment Corporation manages the Korea Fund of Funds, a government-capitalised pool established in 2005 that invests in venture capital funds rather than companies directly. Its own page states the fund size, its 13 government partners and that it groups its sub-funds into several categories.

Seoul Bio Hub: the city's life-science and health startup centre

서울바이오허브 입주와 지원사업

Seoul Bio Hub is a life-science startup centre in the Hongneung area, funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and, by its own site, operated by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Its own pages describe wet-lab and office tenancy across several linked centres, shared research equipment, and a cumulative record of tenant companies since 2017.

Ulsan Technopark: heavy-industry centres and one unexplained Singapore line

울산테크노파크: 중공업 특화 센터와 설명 없는 싱가포르 라인

Ulsan Technopark runs a set of heavy-industry technology centres from Jung-gu, Ulsan, founded in 2003 as the Ulsan Industrial Promotion Foundation. Its homepage names a 2026 Singapore-focused expansion line without describing it, and prints no foreign-founder eligibility rule.

Jeju Technopark: the island's foundation for bio, energy and digital sectors

제주테크노파크 기관 소개

Jeju Technopark (JTP) is a foundation based in Jeju City that runs departments for bio convergence, lava seawater, energy convergence and digital convergence alongside policy planning and enterprise support. Its homepage does not state a foreign-company condition for any programme.

Busan Technopark: its complexes, tenancy and support lines

부산테크노파크 소개

Busan Technopark's own site states a founding date of December 18, 1999 under the Special Act on Support for Industrial Technology Districts. As of January 2025 it lists 19 operational sites and 305 staff across 8 departments and 2 offices. Its pages describe testing, certification, smart-factory and export support; none state a foreign-founder eligibility rule.

KOSME (Korea SMEs and Startups Agency): policy loans and what a young company can reach

KOSME(중소벤처기업진흥공단)와 정책자금

KOSME, published in English as the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, is a non-profit, government-funded organization that runs policy loans and non-financial support for Korean SMEs across the startup, growth and re-growth stages. Its own pages describe the fund structure but do not state eligibility for foreign-invested companies.

Seoul Startup Hub: tenancy and programmes at the Gongdeok campus

서울창업허브 입주와 지원사업

Seoul Startup Hub is a city-funded startup campus in Mapo-gu, operated by the Seoul Business Agency. Its own site lists Global Expansion, Open Innovation, Investment and Try Everything as its four programme lines; the Seoul Metropolitan Government describes it as the city's largest startup incubator, opened in June 2017.

Gyeongnam Technopark: eight centres, one Changwon foundation

경남테크노파크: 여덟 개 센터, 창원의 한 재단

Gyeongnam Technopark is a Gyeongnam Province foundation, chartered in 2000, that runs eight industry-specific centres from Changwon. Its own pages describe incubation space and discounted equipment access but print no separate foreign-founder eligibility rule.

Gyeongbuk Technopark: a network of sector centres, not one office

경북테크노파크 조직과 센터 안내

Gyeongbuk Technopark (GBTP) is a foundation that runs six departments and a set of named specialist centres across Gyeongsan, Gumi, Gyeongju, Yeongju, Seongju and Chilgok. Its own site does not state a foreign-company or foreign-investment condition; the current notice for a specific centre decides that.

Korea's regional technopark network: what a technopark is and who can use one

전국 테크노파크: 지역 테크노파크란 무엇인가

The Korea Technopark Association lists 19 member technoparks nationwide. Each is a separate foundation with its own recruitment rounds, facilities and funding line under the Special Act on Support for Industrial Technology Districts. None of the pages checked for this post state a foreign-founder eligibility rule.

Regional startup academies and open lectures: what they actually offer

지역 창업 아카데미와 공개 강좌 활용법

Regional startup academies can be useful entry points for learning, mentoring and local connections, but an open lecture is not automatically a funding or residency route. Read the operator's notice for audience, schedule, language, selection and follow-up conditions.

Jeonbuk Global Game Center: tenancy, game support and the internship line

전북 글로벌게임센터 입주와 지원사업

The Jeonbuk Global Game Center is a sector centre operated through the Jeonbuk State Contents Convergence Agency. Its official pages describe game-company incubation, production support, tenancy, equipment, specialist training and company-linked internships. The current recruitment notice controls an application.

University business incubation centres in Korea: tenancy as a startup route

한국 대학 창업보육센터 입주와 창업자 지원

A university business incubation centre can be more than an affordable room. It may connect a startup with university expertise, students, equipment, mentoring and regional networks, but each centre sets its own eligibility, selection, contract and support terms. Use the centre's own notice as the rulebook.

MSS, KISED and K-Startup: who sits above a Korean startup notice?

중소벤처기업부와 창업진흥원, 공고의 국가 단위 구조

MSS, KISED and K-Startup are related parts of the national startup-support layer, but they do different jobs. Use the ministry for policy context, KISED for its own programme and operator material, and the current notice for the rules of a specific call.

Most Korean startup funding is administered by 창업진흥원 (KISED). Here is what it runs and who it answers to.

KISED is the public agency under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups that administers Korea's national startup programmes and operates the K-Startup portal. What it is, what it runs, and the announcing-body trap on every call.

Korea's regional startup centres — the 창조경제혁신센터, where support stops being one-size-fits-all

The 창조경제혁신센터 carry Korean startup support out of Seoul: rolling applications instead of an annual window, space and equipment alongside funding-adjacent programmes — and a count that KISED's page gives as 17 while the portal's footer gives as 19.

모두의 창업 is a competition, not an information portal — and round one takes 10,000

모두의 창업 reads like an information corner on the K-Startup landing page. It is a four-round national idea competition run by KISED that selects 10,000 entrants in round one and puts 10억원 or more behind the winner — and for a founder already registered four to seven years, it is close to the only national track still open.

All 19 창조경제혁신센터: Partner, Launch Date and Published Field, from the KISED Dataset

전국 19개 창조경제혁신센터 현황

The complete directory, transcribed from KISED's own dataset rather than assembled from English summaries: every centre's 전담 대기업, 출범일 and 특화분야. SK holds two centres, Incheon holds two partners, and two centres are privately operated — which is the whole of the 17-versus-19 question.

Three Korean portals, three different jobs: K-Startup, 기업마당 and 모두의 창업

K-Startup carries startup announcements and applications; 기업마당 carries policy for all SMEs — 1,512 programmes open on the day we fetched; 모두의 창업 carries information and stories. Searching only one of the three misses what the others hold.

GSC, Seoul Global Center, KOTRA: three foreigner-facing doors, and which one is yours

외국인 창업지원 기관 비교

Three Korean bodies advertise support to foreign founders in English, and all three say the word visa. They answer to different ministries and solve different problems: GSC is a startup campus in Gangnam, Seoul Global Center is the city settlement centre in Jongno, and KOTRA's Invest KOREA exists for inbound investment.

서울 창조경제혁신센터 (Seoul CCEI): D.N.A, and the one field nobody expects — 인구테크

서울 창조경제혁신센터

Seoul CCEI opened 2015-07-17 at 용산구 한강대로 69 — Yongsan, not Gwanghwamun. CJ is its 전담 대기업, and its two published fields are D.N.A (Digital, Network, AI) and 인구테크, population tech: the most distinctive designation in the whole network.

경기 창조경제혁신센터 (Gyeonggi CCEI): Pangyo, KT, and the climate-tech mandate most founders miss

경기 창조경제혁신센터

Gyeonggi CCEI launched 2015-03-30 in Pangyo with KT as its 전담 대기업. KISED publishes its focus fields as AI and 기후테크 (climate tech) — the climate half is the part nobody expects from a KT-partnered centre.

인천 창조경제혁신센터 (Incheon CCEI): the only centre with two corporate partners

인천 창조경제혁신센터

Incheon is the single exception in the network: KISED lists two 전담 대기업 for it, 한진 and KT. Its published fields are 바이오·헬스케어 and 빅데이터·AI — not the logistics and aviation the Hanjin name suggests. It opened 2015-07-22 in Songdo.

부산 창조경제혁신센터 (Busan CCEI): smart maritime, fintech, and the Lotte channel

부산 창조경제혁신센터

Busan CCEI launched on 2015-03-16 with Lotte Group as its 전담 대기업. KISED records its two focus fields as 스마트해양 (smart maritime) and 핀테크 (fintech) — not the retail specialisation the partner pairing suggests.

대구 창조경제혁신센터 (Daegu CCEI): the first CCEI — Samsung, ABB and robots

대구 창조경제혁신센터

Daegu CCEI opened 2014-09-15 — the first of the nineteen centres, a full three months before the second. Samsung is its 전담 대기업 and KISED publishes its focus fields as ABB (AI, Bigdata, Blockchain) and 로봇.

광주 창조경제혁신센터 (Gwangju CCEI): autonomous mobility and Hyundai Motors

광주 창조경제혁신센터

Gwangju CCEI opened 2015-01-27 with 현대차 as its 전담 대기업. KISED publishes its two focus fields as AI·빅데이터 and 친환경 모빌리티 — autonomous mobility is a fair reading of the second, and clean energy is not in the record at all.

대전 창조경제혁신센터 (Daejeon CCEI): space, defence, and SK Group

대전 창조경제혁신센터

Daejeon CCEI opened 2014-10-10, the second centre in the network, with SK as its 전담 대기업. KISED publishes its two focus fields as 우주 (space) and 국방 (defence) — narrower than the deep-science framing the Daedeok address suggests.

울산 창조경제혁신센터 (Ulsan CCEI): smart shipbuilding, hydrogen, and 현대중

울산 창조경제혁신센터

Ulsan CCEI opened 2015-07-15 with 현대중 (HD Hyundai) as its 전담 대기업. KISED publishes its focus fields as 스마트 조선·해양 and 친환경 에너지 — and names hydrogen and secondary batteries inside that second field.

세종 창조경제혁신센터 (Sejong CCEI): SK's second centre, and what it actually funds

세종 창조경제혁신센터

Sejong CCEI opened 2015-06-30 with SK as its 전담 대기업 — the only company holding two centres, alongside Daejeon. Its published fields are AI·빅데이터 and 기능성 바이오, and it sits in 조치원, not beside the government complex.

강원 창조경제혁신센터 (Gangwon CCEI): Naver's centre does food tech, not big data

강원 창조경제혁신센터

Gangwon CCEI opened 2015-05-11 in Chuncheon with Naver as its 전담 대기업. Its two published fields are 푸드테크 (food tech) and 기후테크 (climate tech) — neither of which is what the Naver pairing leads people to expect.

충북 창조경제혁신센터 (Chungbuk CCEI): bio and secondary batteries, with LG

충북 창조경제혁신센터

Chungbuk CCEI opened 2015-02-04 at 청주SB플라자 in Osong with LG as its 전담 대기업. KISED publishes exactly two focus fields: 바이오 and 이차전지 (secondary batteries).

충남 창조경제혁신센터 (Chungnam CCEI): climate tech, mobility, and Hanwha Group

충남 창조경제혁신센터

Chungnam CCEI opened 2015-05-22 and operates from the second floor of 천안아산역 itself, the KTX station. 한화 is its 전담 대기업 and KISED publishes its fields as 제조융합 — mobility, semiconductors, displays — and 기후테크.

전북 창조경제혁신센터 (Jeonbuk CCEI): climate tech and fintech, not carbon fibre

전북 창조경제혁신센터

Jeonbuk CCEI opened 2014-11-24 in Jeonju, third oldest in the network, with 효성 as its 전담 대기업. Its published fields are 기후테크 and 핀테크·AI — not the carbon-fibre materials story that the Hyosung pairing invites.

전남 창조경제혁신센터 (Jeonnam CCEI): petrochemicals, shipbuilding and batteries, from Yeosu

전남 창조경제혁신센터

Jeonnam CCEI opened 2015-06-02 in Yeosu with GS as its sole 전담 대기업. Its published fields are 석유화학 and 조선 및 2차전지. KEPCO belongs to Bitgaram in Naju, a separate centre in the same province.

경북 창조경제혁신센터 (Gyeongbuk CCEI): 소재부품, future mobility, and Samsung

경북 창조경제혁신센터

Gyeongbuk CCEI opened 2014-12-17 in Gumi with 삼성 as its 전담 대기업. KISED publishes its focus fields as 소재부품 (materials and components) and 미래모빌리티 (future mobility).

경남 창조경제혁신센터 (Gyeongnam CCEI): 우주항공, 원전, and Doosan

경남 창조경제혁신센터

Gyeongnam CCEI opened 2015-04-09 in Changwon. KISED records a single 전담 대기업 — 두산 — and two focus fields: 우주항공 (aerospace) and 원전 (nuclear power).

제주 창조경제혁신센터 (Jeju CCEI): aerospace and energy, not tourism

제주 창조경제혁신센터

Jeju CCEI opened 2015-06-26 with Kakao as its 전담 대기업 and two published fields: 우주·항공 (space and aviation) and 에너지 (energy). Every English write-up that says smart tourism and workation is describing the island, not the centre.

포항 창조경제혁신센터 (Pohang CCEI): a private centre, two cities, and one odd dataset row

포항 창조경제혁신센터

Pohang is one of the two privately operated centres, opened 2015-01-30 with 포스코 as its 전담 대기업, and the only centre whose 지역 covers two cities: 포항 and 광양. Its published 특화분야 reads 전력, 에너지신산업 — which does not match the POSCO pairing, and we report it as published rather than guessing.

빛가람 창조경제혁신센터 (Bitgaram CCEI): smart grid, and KEPCO's private operation

빛가람 창조경제혁신센터

Bitgaram CCEI is one of the two privately operated centres, led by 한전 (KEPCO) in Naju. It opened 2017-02-08, two years after the rest, and KISED publishes its fields far wider than smart grid: 에너지, 환경, 소재, ICT, 바이오.