320 Companies Flock to 55 'Baby Unicorn and Prospective Unicorn' Recruitment

Baby Unicorn Competition Rate 6.3 to 1 · Prospective Unicorn Competition Rate 4.4 to 1

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry), the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (President Kim Kwang-hyun, hereinafter referred to as Kised), and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (Chairman Jung Yoon-mo, hereinafter referred to as Kibo) announced on the 17th that a total of 320 companies applied for the 'Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project' and the 'Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee,' which closed for applications on May 11.

The 'Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project' and the 'Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee' are core projects of the government's 'K-Unicorn Project,' which aims to realize the four major venture nations. The goal is to discover around 40 baby unicorns and about 15 pre-unicorns and support their growth into world-leading unicorn companies. This time, the discovered baby unicorns will receive linked support of up to 15.9 billion KRW, including 300 million KRW for market pioneering costs, and pre-unicorns will be immediately provided with special guarantees of up to 10 billion KRW per company. Through this project, baby unicorns can obtain seed funding to grow into pre-unicorns (companies valued at over 100 billion KRW), and pre-unicorns can grow into unicorn companies (companies valued at over 1 trillion KRW), which is expected to help nurture unicorn companies.

Looking at the detailed application status, 254 companies applied for the 'Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project,' recording a competition rate of 6.3 to 1, while 66 companies applied for the 'Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee,' recording a competition rate of 4.4 to 1. Through the national recommendation system introduced this year, a total of 31 companies were recommended, and among them, 9 companies applied.

In this project, many applications came from non-face-to-face ventures and startups (63.8%) that have been spotlighted recently amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the non-face-to-face sectors, applications were highest in the order of daily consumption (24.7%), smart business & finance (11.9%), non-face-to-face foundational technology (8.1%), and smart health and entertainment (each 7.2%).

By investment scale, the 'Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project' mainly received applications from early growth-stage companies with venture investment amounts under 5 billion KRW (139 companies, 54.7%). In the case of the 'Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee,' many applications came from companies that have attracted venture investments of over 20 billion KRW and have entered the full-scale scale-up stage (23 companies, 34.8%). After reviewing the eligibility of the applicants, Kibo will conduct technical evaluations starting from the 18th. Subsequently, support targets will be selected through expert evaluations and joint evaluations by the national jury and experts for each project.

Regarding the national jury participating in the evaluation of applicant companies, 800 people applied for 200 recruitment spots, showing the public's interest and enthusiasm for the 'K-Unicorn Project.' The national jury consists of experienced individuals in startups, investment, and incubation, and after eligibility screening, 200 people will be randomly selected and individually notified on the 27th. The selected national jury will participate in the final evaluation of baby unicorns and pre-unicorns. Lee Ok-hyung, head of the Venture Innovation Policy Division at the Ministry, said, "Many promising ventures and startups aiming to become unicorn companies leading the world with innovative technology and bold investment applied," adding, "Since we are selecting companies that will be responsible for the future of Korea, we will do our best to ensure strict and fair selection."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.