On the 10th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held the '7th Fabless-Foundry Win-Win Council' at the Semiconductor Research Center of Seoul National University, with participation from the Korea Fabless Industry Association, employees from four domestic foundry companies including Samsung Electronics, and experts such as professors from the Center for System Semiconductor Industry Promotion at Seoul National University.
The Win-Win Council serves as a regular communication channel between the fabless industry and foundries under the auspices of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic fabless and system semiconductor industry ecosystem. It was launched in 2022 to address challenges faced by small and medium-sized fabless companies and has reached its 7th meeting this year.
Through the Win-Win Council, fabless companies and foundries have collaborated to promote the 'Fabless Challenge', which produces prototype manufacturing processes (MPW) for promising fabless startups three times. The support plans for fabless startups discussed last year have been reflected in policies this year as the 'Fabless Startup Consistent Support Project.'
At this Win-Win Council, starting with a presentation by Professor Ryu Su-jeong from the Center for System Semiconductor Industry Promotion at Seoul National University on 'Global Trends and Key Issues in the System Semiconductor Industry', each organization announced detailed plans for the '2025 Fabless Challenge', key operational plans of the fabless association and foundries, and plans for a survey on the state of the fabless industry.
Following the presentations, detailed discussions on the agenda took place, addressing strategic responses and cooperation plans for the domestic system semiconductor industry ecosystem in light of recent global environmental changes, such as the imposition of reciprocal tariffs announced in the United States.
On this day, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups also announced the '2025 Fabless Challenge.' The 'Fabless Challenge' is a program that jointly selects promising fabless startups in collaboration with domestic foundries to provide prototype manufacturing process (MPW), cover expenses, and support opportunities for new product development. It has been held regularly since 2022, and so far 15 companies have been selected for support.
In particular, starting last year, all domestic foundries, including DB HiTek and SK keyfoundry, in addition to Samsung Electronics Foundry, have participated in the challenge, expanding the scale of support and enabling the provision of various MPW processes.
Jo Kyung-won, Director of Start-up Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, noted, 'As the fierce competition for dominance over semiconductors has intensified among major countries such as the United States and China, it has become a crucial time for solidarity and cooperation within the entire system semiconductor ecosystem more than ever.' He also stated, 'The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will focus on strengthening the system semiconductor ecosystem and responding to global crises based on the win-win collaboration between fabless and foundry corporations.'