The government has selected so-called “D.A.S.H.” such as Defense, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Semi.. – MK

The government has selected so-called “D.A.S.H.” such as Defense, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Semiconductor, and Healthcare as key industries in the future that will lead the national economy and is taking a development drive. As this year is the first year of economic advancement, industry attention is focusing on whether growth will accelerate as each industry focuses on funding and policy capabilities to nurture next-generation runners.

According to the industry, each government department is in full swing this year for “pouring of heavy water” for startups that will lead future industries. Based on the experience of securing new engines by growing new industries such as IT and platforms, the limitations of existing growth models are interpreted as a strategy to overcome the increasingly difficult economic situation, focusing on supporting innovative companies.

AI, which has established itself as a key variable determining national competitiveness, and semiconductors, which are the foundations of it, are the most elaborate fields in the government, and the scale of support is unconventional. In March, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Financial Services Commission announced that they would invest a total of 50 trillion won in the AI and semiconductor sectors over the next five years. This year alone, 10 trillion won will be supplied first through the National Growth Fund, and the “K-NVIDIA Fostering” project will also be launched to raise AI semiconductor unicorn companies.

As much as AI and semiconductors, the field that has recently attracted attention is defense. An industry official said, “Until now, defense has been virtually a ‘no-civilian access zone’ for startups due to high entry barriers such as certification and security due to the nature of the industry, but the government has also released the latch as equipment incorporating high-tech technology has been active in a series of wars.”

The actual movement is also taking shape. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration decided to promote a “plan to foster defense start-ups” and raise 100 defense start-ups and 30 venture billion companies by 2030. The threshold for private participation was also lowered through the “Bangsan Startup Challenge,” which links cooperation with the army, navy, and air forces and support for empirical tests.

In the field of healthcare, it has joined hands with ‘Global’. According to the industry, the Ministry of Health and Welfare signed agreements with global pharmaceutical companies “Roche” and “Lily” in March, and investments worth 710 billion won and 650 billion won, respectively, are scheduled for five years. Through this, it plans to promote research and development (R&D) and clinical trials along with fostering domestic healthcare and bio startups.

As the movement to change the industrial landscape begins in earnest, investments are naturally flowing into the next player, who is on a growth path. As the government’s attention is on the back, an unusual amount of money is being collected.

Bon AI, a defense technology company that succeeded in raising funds worth 47 billion won in the seed round alone, is a representative example. In November last year, Bon AI raised $12 million (about 17 billion won) led by US venture capital (VC) Third Prime, and in February this year, it attracted an additional $20 million (about 30 billion won) investment from global VC Ora Global and domestic DS investment partners.

Investors have taken note of Bon AI’s technology. It can provide integrated services from robotics hardware production to artificial intelligence brain (AI brain) and command and control (C2) operation programs, and based on this, it has earned about 3 billion won in sales from its first year as a public project order.

Boss Semiconductor, a system semiconductor (SoC) design start-up for mobility, attracted 87 billion won, creating a similar situation. Boss Semiconductor is developing AI semiconductor solutions for autonomous driving and in-vehicle infotainment and aims to target the Chinese market.

Healthcare startup Ark has also confirmed a series A investment worth 20 billion won. With its own AI-based medical screening solution, it can detect complications that may occur in patients with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes early, and is currently supplying solutions to more than 700 hospitals and clinics nationwide.

Start-ups are also receiving a lot of money. Revelion, an AI semiconductor fabless company, has been selected as the “No. 1 direct investment of the National Growth Fund” and will receive 600 billion won in financial support with the aim of fostering K-NVIDIA. AI startup Upstage also attracted 50 billion won worth of additional investment from SK Networks.

This industrial restructuring is expected to speed up gradually, supported by public perception. According to the results of a survey commissioned by Realmeter, a polling agency, in March, AI (31.3% and No. 1), semiconductors (26.3% and No. 2), defense and aerospace (14.5%, No. 3) and bio-healthcare (6.2% and No. 5) were ranked as the most important industries to lead the growth of the Korean economy over the next decade.

An industry official said, “In order to overcome the K-shaped growth structure, the development of start-ups centered on national strategic industries is in full swing,” adding, “The place that has overcome the support ladder and developed technology commercialization and global competitiveness will grow into a key pillar driving the economy.”