Kwak Byung-Sung, CEO of KIST Innovation, speaking at the subsidiary’s launch
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology has launched a new subsidiary, KIST Innovation, to significantly expand its research commercialisation capabilities.
KIST Innovation will integrate the Technology Licensing Office and the Korea Venture Foundation, which the institute set up in 2000 to support the development of small and medium-sized companies and facilitate their expansion into overseas markets.
KIST Innovation also builds on the Korea Technology Advancement Corporation (K-TAC), launched by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in 1974 as the first commercialisation subsidiary among public research institutes.
The new subsidiary will focus on the entire cycle of commercialisation, ranging from technology transfer, IP management, and startup support, to overseas market expansion and corporate support, to making investments.
KIST Innovation also plans to collaborate with other programmes set up by the institute, such as Korea-Boston Bridge, created last year to promote research collaborations between Korea and the Boston ecosystem, including MIT and Harvard University.
“As the birthplace of Korean science and technology, KIST is now embarking on a new journey, leading innovation in commercialisation and tech-driven entrepreneurship. KIST Innovation represents a bold step beyond the limits of traditional TLOs by integrating public R&D with private-sector expertise and resources. It is a transformative model aligned with the government’s push for R&D-driven commercialisation, deep-tech scale-up, and youth entrepreneurship.
“We look forward to seeing KIST Innovation inject new momentum into Korea’s startup ecosystem by coupling KIST’s outstanding research with bold investment and execution.”
Sang-Rok Oh, president of the Korea Instite of Science and Technology
Byung-Sung Kwak has been appointed chief executive officer of KIST Innovation. His earlier career highlights included management roles at SK Life Science and SK Innovation, as well as serving as president of the Korea Institute of Energy Research.