Venture Business Association Names 12 Outstanding Startup Support Organizations for 2025

At the celebration of venture companies' shining 30th anniversary, a special awards ceremony took place at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel. On the 1st, the Korea Venture Business Association selected and announced 12 '2025 Korea Startup Support Excellent Institutions' that will robustly support Korea's future startup ecosystem, commending their contributions. This selection of excellent institutions is a meaningful event that has been ongoing since last year, aiming to discover public institutions and government-funded research institutes that have made significant contributions to the development of the domestic startup ecosystem and have taken the lead in spreading venture and startup culture. The honorees are a total of 12 institutions: Science and Technology Policy Institute, Korea Technology Finance Corporation, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Jeju Free International City Development Center, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Invention Promotion Association, Korea Water Resources Corporation, Korea Food Industry Cluster Agency, Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, Korea Creative Content Agency, and Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion. Among these, six institutions – the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Jeju Free International City Development Center, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Invention Promotion Association, and Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion – were selected for the second consecutive year, demonstrating their unwavering excellence. The evaluation of excellent institutions was not based solely on paperwork. Diverse criteria were applied, including the status of startup support infrastructure establishment, performance in supporting venture and startup growth, and efforts to spread startup culture. Furthermore, the evaluation highly regarded actual contributions by incorporating the results of votes from active venture and startup companies on the ground. Song Byung-jun, Chairman of the Korea Venture Business Association, emphasized, "The selected institutions have excellently fulfilled their role as strong facilitators, helping startups overcome numerous limitations they face during their growth process." He added, "We look forward to public and private sectors joining forces to further strengthen their partnership for activating the startup ecosystem," thus painting a bright future for venture businesses in Korea.