Domestic Unicorn Companies Increase from 18 to 23... "Focus on Inflow of Private Investment Funds"

The number of domestic unicorn companies (unlisted companies valued at over 1 trillion KRW) was counted as 23 as of the first half of this year.

On the 21st, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that the number of domestic unicorn companies increased by 5 from 18 at the end of last year to 23 in the first half of this year. This figure includes 15 companies listed by the U.S. market research firm 'CB Insights' and 8 additional companies identified by the Ministry through investment industry sources and domestic and international media. Newly added unicorns this time include Megazone Cloud, Shift Up, IGAWorks, Yogi-otdae Company, and Oasis.

The Ministry stated, "Despite the global decline in corporate valuations due to interest rate hikes, this is an achievement made by the domestic venture ecosystem." It is particularly encouraging compared to the sharp decrease in the number of companies with a market capitalization of over 1 trillion KRW on the KOSDAQ market, which dropped from 71 at the end of last year to 36 this year. According to CB Insights, South Korea ranks 10th in the world in terms of unicorn holdings.

Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups expressed his commitment to supporting unicorn growth through global expansion of startups and expansion of private investment. On the same day, Minister Lee visited IGAWorks, the first domestic data platform company to become a unicorn, to encourage its executives and employees. They also exchanged opinions on the difficulties startups face in growing into unicorns and government policy directions.

Minister Lee emphasized, "The birth of unicorns is possible when young entrepreneurs armed with innovation start businesses and venture capital boldly invests in companies despite difficult environments, creating an ecosystem." He added, "We will focus on promoting policies that accelerate unicorn growth by fostering new technology startups, globalizing startups, and attracting private investment funds."

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