Four Unicorn Companies Increased Their Corporate Value After Listing

6 Venture Companies Among Top 20 by Market Cap During 1st Venture Boom Increase to 13 This Year
"Creating a Virtuous Cycle Venture Ecosystem from Startup to Growth, Unicorn, and Exit"

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that among the top 20 companies by market capitalization in the domestic securities market, 13 domestic venture companies are listed on the KOSDAQ market, and 4 companies are listed on the KOSPI market. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] It has been confirmed that the market capitalization of domestic unicorn companies after listing is higher than the corporate value evaluated during their unlisted period.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that among the top 20 companies by market capitalization in the domestic securities market, 13 domestic venture companies are listed on the KOSDAQ market and 4 on the KOSPI market.

Here, venture companies include those with a history of having been certified as venture companies in the past as well as those currently recognized as venture companies. In the case of the KOSDAQ market, only 6 venture companies were among the top 20 by market capitalization in 2001.

Among the KOSDAQ market venture companies, 8 companies including Celltrion Pharm, Seegene, and Kakao Games have a history of venture company certification, while 5 companies such as Alteogen, Genexine, and Pearl Abyss are currently recognized as venture companies.

Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss were valued as 'unicorn companies' with corporate values exceeding 1 trillion KRW during their unlisted period, and as of the 3rd of this month, both have market capitalizations exceeding 3 trillion KRW.

The combined market capitalization of the 13 listed venture companies was 44.5 trillion KRW, accounting for 12.4% of the total market capitalization of the KOSDAQ market. Compared to the top 20 by market capitalization, it reached 53.7%.

Status of Venture Companies Among the Top 20 KOSDAQ Companies by Market Capitalization in 2001, 2010, and 2020. Table = Provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Additionally, the increase in market capitalization of these 13 companies was approximately 2.98 trillion KRW, accounting for about 15.2% of the total increase in KOSDAQ market capitalization (196.4 trillion KRW). The Ministry of SMEs and Startups explained that the 13 listed venture companies significantly led the recovery of the KOSDAQ Composite Index, which had been sluggish due to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.

Except for Kakao Games, the market capitalization of the other 12 companies increased compared to their listing time. Celltrion Pharm’s market capitalization increased by a remarkable 85 times, and SK Materials also grew by 72.5 times.

Among the top 20 by market capitalization in the KOSPI market, four companies originating from venture companies are included: Celltrion, Naver, Kakao, and NCSoft. Until 2010, there were no venture companies among the top 20 by market capitalization.

In the results of public subscription for IPOs in the stock market, the top two companies with the highest subscription deposits were both venture companies. The company that raised the largest subscription deposit was Big Hit Entertainment, which is still a venture company.

Big Hit Entertainment had a corporate value of 1.2 trillion KRW before listing, and as of the 3rd of this month, its market capitalization is around 6.8 trillion KRW.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated that among the 13 domestic unlisted unicorn companies, 7 including Viva Republica and Yanolja are currently pursuing listing. In particular, three companies including Yanolja have completed the selection of lead underwriters for their IPOs.

Park Yongsun, Director of Venture Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "Through this analysis, we were able to confirm that domestic venture and unicorn companies are rising stars in the listing market," and "Next year, we will support the creation and successful exit of more unicorn companies by promoting financial support such as the Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee, Smart Korea Fund, and Scale-up Fund, as well as initiatives like the K-Unicorn Project and the introduction of multiple voting rights systems to foster a virtuous cycle venture ecosystem."

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