'Up to 20 Billion KRW Special Guarantee' Final Selection of 20 Pre-Unicorn Support Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 27th that it has finalized the selection of 20 companies eligible for the 'Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee' support.

The Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee is a program in which the Korea Technology Finance Corporation provides special guarantees of up to 20 billion KRW to promising unicorn companies that have undergone market validation through investment attraction and demonstrate excellent innovation and growth potential.

This year, a total of 76 companies applied for the Pre-Unicorn selection, resulting in a competition ratio of 3.8:1. After the first round of eligibility review and document evaluation, the second round of technical evaluation and guarantee screening, and the third round of presentation evaluation involving external experts and the general public, the final 20 companies with high potential to grow into unicorn companies were selected.

The average business age of the final selected companies is 7.4 years, the average sales amount is 17.1 billion KRW, and the average number of employees is 100. Compared to last year's selected companies, the average sales increased by 3.1 billion KRW, and the number of employees increased by 30.

By industry, 10 companies (50%) are in the information and communication sector and data, network, and artificial intelligence-based platform companies, followed by 4 companies (20%) in the bio and health sector, and 3 companies (15%) in traditional manufacturing sectors such as machinery, metal, chemical, and materials. Among the total 20 selected companies, 17 are non-face-to-face (untact) businesses.

Starting this year, a non-financial corporate growth program will also be provided, including free pre-diagnostic consulting services by experts from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation for companies among the Pre-Unicorn selected firms pursuing KOSDAQ technical special listing.

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