Farmyireh Se lands up to ₩3B in Korean scale-up TIPS grant
What's the deal? South Korean agtech startup Farmyireh SeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has been selected for the Scale-up TIPS policy-designated track, securing up to 3 billion KRW (about $2.13 million) in government R&D support over three years. The Ministry of SMEs and StartupsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs jointly run the programme, the company said on 10 August 2026.
What does the company do? Farmyireh Se builds an AI-based Digital Speed Breeding platform, turning specialised greenhouses into what it calls physical AI data factories. It fuses environmental, growth and grower-behaviour data into autonomous cultivation systems, then packages crop variety IP with cultivation-system IP for export.
What's the money for? The funding will speed development of variety-specific Real-World AI Twin and Physical AI systems, plus global commercialisation. The project will build a VLA-based behaviour model, with Pusan National University acting as a subcontractor to develop the mobile robot platform and robotics.
Why now? Scale-up TIPS matches government R&D funds with private investment for startups that have already proven their technology and growth potential. The agriculture ministry's policy-designated track targets promising agri-food tech firms for intensive support of up to three years.
The company's flagship product, high-end premium strawberry brand ON BERRIES, already exports to New York's Manhattan, Washington, DC and Virginia.
What they said: Chief executive officer Kang Jung-koo called the selection "a meaningful achievement" that recognises the firm's ability to "realise physical AI", pledging to focus on "technology advancement and overseas market expansion".
The signal: Government-backed matching programmes remain a core funding channel for Korean deep-tech startups bridging lab-stage technology and commercial scale. For agtech firms combining crop science with robotics and AI, such grants offer runway to chase export markets where domestic capital alone may fall short.
Read more: Wowtale
Image credit: FarmyirehSe
