VATIS UPDATE Article

The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, under the Republic of Korea (PRK) government will receive a $100 million fund to help grow startups and venture firms in the biotech industry. This hopefully will help young entrepreneurs launch new startups and develop new biotechnologies. It is now cheaper to fund biotech companies because crucial technologies have become cheaper and lab work has become automated.

Now it is cheap to start a biotech startup in PRK compared to previous years. However, every new startup needs some startup capital. This fund by the Korean government will help with staff, research, development, and production. Also with biotech firms, there is a lot of red tape in regards to permits and licensing. The ministry will look to partner with the Small and Medium Business Administration and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

They hope this fund will bring in more investments and eventually create more jobs. The fund will create a biotech infrastructure that will be the center for research and development. Biotech is considered the next growth engine after IT and the Korean government seems to be fully behind it with their 100 million dollar fund. Hopefully, this is the first step in PRK becoming the leader in regards to biotech and the medical/healthcare global hub.