Business Incubation Strategy of High-Tech Venture Firms in a Science Park - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 155

Table 3 Incubators in Daejeon metropolitan city area (2004)

Incubator Number of

rooms

Number of
occupancy

Remarks

KAIST TIC/TBI 31 31 1992 founded

KAIST HTC 83 83 1998 supported by MOST

ETRI 70 57 1996 supported by MIT

KAERI 11 11 1997 supported by SMBA

Taejon SMEC 27 27 1998 by Taejon

Taejon S/W Center 11 11 1998 by Taejon

Chungnam University 21 21 1997 by MOE

Hannan University 15 15 1997 supported by SMBA

Baeje University 16 16 1997 by university

Korea Electric
Company

4 4 1999/2000

Chungnam incubator 15 10 1999 by Chungnam

Province

Total 304 286
wTwo private incubators are under the preparation of setting up TBI strategies in 2004

In Table 3 , the foundation of incubators in Daejeon area was also noted as
being supported by each ministry. The incubator helps in creation and growth of
technology-based firms. The incubator also helps the firm to succeed by over-
coming bureaucratic obstacles and providing affordable space and shared facilities.
To reduce gestation time and startup cost, it provides advice, training, information
service, management and marketing support, linkages to research faculty and
facilities, and access to capitals.
Reflecting the Korean bureaucracy, however, the policy-makers for venture are
distributed among several ministries, i.e., the Ministry of Information and Tele-
communication (MIT), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and the
Agency for Small and Medium-sized Business (SMBA). Therefore, a hero is
required to promote the regulatory and economic shifts, which induce the active
participation of small business people and communities. The leading role of the
MOST on DV quickly decreased as the supporting Board of Trustees reorganized
into three sectors, such as basic science, industrial, and public technology in 2000.

4.4 Demands for Business Incubation

There have been several demands and requests from highly qualified manpower to
challenge the opportunity for start-ups from their original R&D centers or uni-
versities. Surveys to clarify these have been made twice, in 1997 and 2002.
The most difficult problems when highly qualified manpower, like professors or
staff of R&D centers, tried to start their businesses were as follows; funding capital
(79 %), lack of demand for products and marketing, shortage of managerial know-
how, complicated administrative procedures for opening businesses. However,