KIBO
KIBO (Korea Technology Finance Corporation / 기술보증기금) is a South Korean government-affiliated public institution under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, providing technology guarantees, AI-based evaluations, factoring, technology custody, and social-venture support to domestic SMEs, startups, and biopharma companies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1989
- HeadquartersBusan, South Korea
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What KIBO does
KIBO (Korea Technology Finance Corporation / 기술보증기금) is a South Korean public institution established in 1989 under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (중소벤처기업부). It provides technology-based credit guarantees, AI-driven technology evaluations, factoring, technology custody and evidence-preservation services, social venture certification, and green/carbon finance to Korean SMEs and technology startups. Its core technology stack is organized around the K-TOP open evaluation platform, which hosts three proprietary AI models — KTRS-FM (technology-business evaluation), Tech-Index (innovation growth capacity scoring), and the Origin Technology Evaluation Model (patent DB-based NLP scoring) — all trained on 25 years of in-house evaluation data. Supporting platforms include Tech Safe (technology custody / TTRS evidence records), SME Factoring, Social Venture Square, and the Carbon Neutral Platform, all accessible through the unified KIBO ONE digital portal.
KIBO generates revenue primarily through guarantee fees on government-backed technology loans, factoring service spreads, technology custody fees, and select professional evaluation fees, while evaluation services for digital-branch members are largely freemium (up to two free self-diagnostic evaluations per month). Go-to-market is a hybrid model combining a nationwide field-office network, a comprehensive digital platform ecosystem, and distribution through partner banks (Shinhan, Hana, KDB) and venture capital firms. Its 18-cohort Venture Camp accelerator has supported 890 startups to date, and recent partnerships with Roche Korea, Basel Area Business & Innovation, Seoul Biohub, KOICA, and Hana Bank extend its reach into global life-sciences markets and international social-venture development. The institution has one wholly-owned subsidiary, KIBO Mate, which handles property management and facility services.
The underlying business model is policy-finance oriented rather than market-profit oriented: KIBO absorbs credit risk on guaranteed loans (record KRW 1.4258 trillion in 2025 subrogation payments, more than 3x the COVID-era peak), invests as a limited partner in startup ecosystems (e.g., MITO AI pre-seed), and operates enforcement mechanisms to prevent third-party broker capture of its guarantee pipeline. Customers span innovative startups, biopharma/life sciences firms, distressed SMEs, social ventures, and working-capital SMEs — structurally diversified but exposed to systemic SME credit cycles.
KIBO firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- KIBO
- Legal name
- 기술보증기금
- Website
- https://kibo.or.kr
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1989
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- KIBO (Korea Technology Finance Corporation / 기술보증기금) is a South Korean government-affiliated public institution under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, providing technology guarantees, AI-based evaluations, factoring, technology custody, and social-venture support to domestic SMEs, startups, and biopharma companies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where KIBO is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Busan
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices5 records
Markets served
KIBO business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Technology Guarantee Fees: KIBO generates revenue primarily through guarantee fees charged to SMEs and startups for government-backed technology guarantee products. These guarantees enable policy-financed loans through partner banks and financial institutions, with KIBO absorbing the credit risk. Fees are structured based on guarantee ratio and risk classification.
- Technology Evaluation Services: KIBO provides technology business evaluations, innovation growth capacity indices, and origin technology assessments. Self-diagnostic evaluations are provided free (up to 2 times per month for digital branch members), while professional offline evaluations may involve fees. These evaluations support venture company certification and public procurement applications.
- SME Factoring Services: KIBO operates an SME factoring platform where purchase enterprises can issue accounts receivable online and receive repayment at maturity, while selling enterprises can convert receivables to cash before maturity. Revenue derives from discounting/service fees on the factoring transactions.
- Tech Safe Service Fees: Fees are charged for technology custody (기술지킴이) and transaction evidence records (증거지킴이/TTRS) based on contract duration. Payment methods include bank transfer and card payment.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Self-diagnostic technology evaluations (K-TOP) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
KIBO product offering
Product offeringCore offering
KIBO is a government-affiliated policy finance institution that provides technology guarantees, AI-based technology evaluations, and financing support for Korean SMEs and startups. Its core offerings include technology guarantee products enabling policy-backed lending through partner banks, an AI-driven K-TOP evaluation platform for assessing technology and innovation capacity, factoring services for SME working capital, technology custody (Tech Safe), social venture certification and evaluation, and a national startup acceleration program (KIBO Venture Camp).
Product overview
KIBO (Korea Technology Finance Corporation / 기술보증기금) is a Korean government-affiliated institution operating a multi-layered platform ecosystem organized around three pillars: (1) financial guarantees — technology guarantees, green finance, IP compensation, and factoring services — providing credit access for SMEs and startups; (2) AI-driven technology evaluation — anchored on K-TOP (Korea Technology-rating Open Platform), which hosts KTRS-FM for technology-business assessment, Tech-Index for innovation growth capacity scoring, and the Origin Technology Evaluation Model for patent-based originality analysis; and (3) technology protection infrastructure — TechSafe offering technology custody (기술지킴이) and evidence preservation (증거지킴이 / TTRS) services, complemented by TechBridge for technology transactions and Carbon Neutral Platform for ESG. These core platforms are accessible through the Kibo ONE unified digital portal and power downstream programs including Social Venture Square (social venture discrimination, evaluation, and social value measurement), Venture Camp (national accelerator with ESG and Global Growth tracks), unicorn support programs, and SME factoring. The portfolio is designed to serve enterprises from pre-startup through scale-up across all growth stages.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- 중소기업팩토링: SME factoring service allowing selling enterprises to cashize accounts receivable early and purchasing enterprises to manage accounts payable online.
- 테크세이프 (Tech Safe)
- K-TOP (Korea Technology-rating Open Platform)
- 기술신용평가사 (Technical Credit Evaluator)
- 소셜벤처스퀘어 (Social Venture Square)
- 탄소중립 플랫폼 (Carbon Neutrality Platform)
Products and services
- Technology Guarantee (기술보증) Core guarantee service providing credit and financial guarantees for technology-based SMEs and startups, enabling policy-financed loans through partner banks and financial institutions. KIBO absorbs credit risk in place of insufficient collateral.
- K-TOP (Korea Technology-rating Open Platform)
Quantifiable outcome
- 890 startups supported through KIBO Venture Camp over its history
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use KIBO
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
KIBO technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
KIBO partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Shinhan Bank (신한은행)coreKIBO and Shinhan Bank launched a joint initiative to support small and medium-sized enterprises in overcoming damage caused by the Middle East war. The partnership focuses on providing policy finance support to affected SMEs through combined resources.
- Seoul Biohub (서울바이오허브)coreKIBO and Seoul Biohub collaborate to support the global commercialization of bio startups. The partnership aims to leverage both organizations' strengths in bio startup support and technology finance.
- Basel Area Business & InnovationflagshipKIBO participates in a joint open innovation program with Roche Korea, KHIDI (Korea Health Industry Development Institute), and Basel Area Business & Innovation to help Korean biopharma companies expand into global markets. Launching in May 2026, each organization plays a distinct role: Roche Korea leads company selection and explores funding, KHIDI promotes and operates the program, KIBO evaluates companies and supports access to financing, and Basel Area connects companies to its Life Sciences Supercluster and infrastructure.
- KHIDI (Korea Health Industry Development Institute / 한국보건산업진흥원)flagshipKHIDI promotes and operates the joint open innovation program alongside Roche Korea, KIBO, and Basel Area to support Korean biopharma companies' global market expansion.
- Roche Korea (로체 한국)flagshipRoche Korea leads company selection for the joint open innovation program and explores funding opportunities for selected Korean biopharma companies seeking to expand into the Basel Area Life Sciences ecosystem.
- Hana Bank (하나은행)coreHana Bank and KIBO signed a KRW 10 billion scale social venture support agreement through the Social Venture Square platform, providing dedicated financing for social ventures.
- KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency / 한국국제협력단)coreKIBO signed a cooperation agreement with KOICA for 'global advancement and growth support of social ventures,' establishing a framework for international social venture support programs.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
KIBO competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT): KODIT is a sister Korean government-backed credit guarantee institution under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Both KIBO and KODIT provide guarantee and evaluation services for Korean SMEs, and their combined subrogation payments are tracked jointly as leading indicators of SME credit stress.
- Small Business Corporation (SBC): SBC is another Korean public institution under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, providing financial support, training, and market access for SMEs and micro-enterprises. It overlaps with KIBO in serving Korean SMEs with government-backed support programs.
Broad incumbents
- Bpifrance: Bpifrance is the French public investment bank providing credit guarantees, SME financing, and innovation funding. It is comparable to KIBO as a national-scale policy finance institution serving SMEs and startups with a technology and innovation focus.
- KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau): KfW is the German government-owned development bank providing SME financing, technology investment, and innovation funding. It is comparable to KIBO in delivering government-backed credit and innovation support at national scale.
- European Investment Fund (EIF): EIF is the EU's specialist institution for SME financing through guarantees, securitization, and fund investments. It is comparable to KIBO as a public policy institution focused on SME credit access and technology/innovation ecosystem support.
- Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK): IBK is a Korean policy commercial bank focused on SME financing. It works alongside KIBO as a major partner financial institution for policy-backed loans and is comparable in its SME and technology focus.
- Korea Development Bank (KDB): KDB is Korea's primary policy development bank supporting strategic industries and SMEs. As a partner of KIBO in channeling technology financing, KDB is comparable in its public-policy mandate for SME and industrial finance.
- Japan Finance Corporation (JFC): JFC is Japan's public policy finance institution providing SME financing, technology/innovation support, and credit guarantees. It is comparable to KIBO in operating nationwide policy finance programs with technology-focus guarantees.
- China Development Bank (CDB): CDB is a Chinese policy development bank supporting national strategic industries and SMEs. It is comparable to KIBO in operating at scale with a government mandate for technology and SME policy financing.
Regional players
- EXIM Bank of Korea (KEXIM): KEXIM is Korea's export-import bank and policy lender supporting Korean companies' international expansion. Its collaboration with KIBO in financing Korean biopharma global expansion (Basel Area) makes it a regional comparable for internationalization-focused policy finance.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
KIBO social profiles
Digital presenceKIBO financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
KIBO leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
KIBO subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
KIBO funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
KIBO M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments4 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about KIBO
What does KIBO do?
KIBO is a government-affiliated policy finance institution that provides technology guarantees, AI-based technology evaluations, and financing support for Korean SMEs and startups. Its core offerings include technology guarantee products enabling policy-backed lending through partner banks, an AI-driven K-TOP evaluation platform for assessing technology and innovation capacity, factoring services for SME working capital, technology custody (Tech Safe), social venture certification and evaluation, and a national startup acceleration program (KIBO Venture Camp).
Is KIBO a public or private company?
KIBO is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was KIBO founded?
KIBO was founded in 1989. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is KIBO based?
KIBO is headquartered in Busan, South Korea, in the Asia region.
How does KIBO make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Technology Guarantee Fees are the primary driver. The others are technology Evaluation Services, SME Factoring Services and tech Safe Service Fees.
Who are KIBO's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) and Small Business Corporation (SBC). Broad incumbents are Bpifrance, KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), European Investment Fund (EIF), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Korea Development Bank (KDB), Japan Finance Corporation (JFC) and China Development Bank (CDB). EXIM Bank of Korea (KEXIM) is listed as a regional player.
Does KIBO have an API?
No public API is recorded for KIBO.