KIAT Regional Industry Strategic R&D Program — Discoverability Seed
Funds Korean regional teams with coordinated support for collaborative innovation in economic zones and parks.
The Regional Industry Strategic R&D Program is a KIAT-administered funding mechanism under Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that finances R&D consortia anchored within Korea's designated free economic zones, techno-parks, and regional industrial clusters. The program's rationale is to reduce Korea's historically high concentration of industrial capacity in the Seoul capital region by directing R&D investment to specific regions that have been assigned strategic-industry designations — covering sectors such as advanced manufacturing, materials, AI-integrated systems, robotics, and biotechnology, depending on each region's assigned specialisation. Consortia must include a regional enterprise anchor alongside a university or government research institute from the same region.
Award values range from KRW 300 million to KRW 2 billion per project at TRL 5–8, with an expected industry-partner matching contribution. Both for-profit enterprises and non-profit or public-sector partners are eligible within the consortium, provided they are registered and operating in Korea and are situated within or have operational links to the relevant designated cluster. Sector eligibility is not uniform across Korea; each region's strategic-industry designation governs which technology themes are in scope for a given call batch, so applicants must verify that their R&D aligns with the designation of the specific techno-park or free economic zone they are associating with.
The program operates on an annual selection cycle, with specific call timing and topic lists published through KIAT's regional sub-portals. KIAT tracks post-award commercial outcomes — revenue growth, export volumes, employment, and manufacturing capacity additions — as criteria for programme renewal and future support decisions. Founding teams with R&D operations in a designated regional cluster and a credible consortium ready should plan submissions around the annual announcement window.
R&D consortium grants for enterprises and research institutions located in Korea's designated free economic zones, techno-parks, and regional clusters, aligned to each region's strategic industry theme.
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