South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) said on Jan. 22 they are recruiting new companies for the 2026 SW High Growth Club programme.

The SW High Growth Club programme supports domestic companies with strong growth potential by providing funds to carry out self-directed projects and a global growth programme.

The 72 companies supported last year achieved total sales of 315.6 billion won and exports of $47.86 million. They created 1,234 new jobs. Average exports rose about 84 percent from a year earlier. Two supported companies also listed on KOSDAQ, demonstrating the competitiveness of promising domestic AI and software companies.

This year, the programme will support a total of 47 companies by selecting 14 promising AI and software firms with high growth potential and innovation in addition to 33 companies that have received continued support since last year. Selected companies will receive annual implementation funds of 300 million won to 500 million won for up to 2 years to achieve challenging tasks. The programme will also support close consulting by an expert support group, networking with major companies in South Korea and abroad, and investment attraction activities.

This year, it will create an "export high-growth" track. It plans to support up to 500 million won a year in project implementation funds to meet challenging goals and help companies craft tailored investment and marketing strategies for overseas expansion.

Nam Cheol-gi (남철기), director general for software policy at the ministry, said it will continue to actively identify and support promising companies with high potential to help innovative firms grow and promote overseas expansion and exports.