Final Evaluation of 'Agiyunikon200'... Which 40 Companies Won the Public Jury's 'Pick'?

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development announced that the final evaluation of the ‘Baby Unicorn 200 Development Project,’ selected together with the public, will be conducted on the 19th.

The Baby Unicorn 200 Development Project is the first initiative under the K-Unicorn Project aimed at realizing the four major venture powerhouse countries. Selected companies will receive up to 15.9 billion KRW in linked support, including 300 million KRW in market pioneering funds. The final evaluation will be conducted on 98 companies that passed the first stage of eligibility review and technology evaluation, and the second stage evaluation of business model innovation, growth potential, and market expansion potential.

The final evaluation will be conducted through presentations, assessing ▲ the potential for growth into a unicorn company ▲ the degree of support and encouragement from the public for the company to become a unicorn ▲ and social contribution potential.

To ensure the expertise of the evaluation and to allocate sufficient time for company presentations and Q&A sessions, the evaluation will be divided into 10 subcommittees: five in the fields of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Data, Network, Artificial Intelligence (DNA)-based services and platforms; three in Bio and Health; and two in general manufacturing and services.

The expert judging panel includes representatives from global companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba, Samsung, and Hyundai Motor Company, to fairly assess not only technological innovation but also the potential for global market entry.

Notably, the final evaluation will also involve a ‘National Jury’ composed of 200 members who will participate jointly with the expert panel, reflecting the public’s perspective.

The final announcement of the 40 selected companies will be made on the 26th after the final evaluation results undergo an objection process.

On the day, Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will visit the final evaluation site held at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, and hold a luncheon meeting with Jang Byung-gyu, head of the National Jury, and the heads of the expert subcommittees. At the meeting, Minister Park plans to share the government’s commitment to fostering unicorn companies with the evaluators and request active cooperation in discovering and supporting potential unicorn companies.

Lee Ok-hyung, Director of Venture Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Since experts and the public will select the Baby Unicorns together in this final evaluation, we will conduct a fair and transparent assessment to select potential unicorn companies that will lead Korea’s future and the global market.”

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