Domestic Unicorns Increase from 18 to 23... Lee Young "We Will Support Global Expansion" (Comprehensive)

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces Number of Domestic Unicorn Companies as of First Half of This Year
"Achievements of the Venture Ecosystem... Highly Encouraging" Evaluation
Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, Visits New Unicorn 'IGAWORKS'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] 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.

The newly added unicorns are Megazone Cloud, Shift Up, IGAWorks, Yanolja Company, and Oasis.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups 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 the number of unicorns.

As of the first half of this year, the cumulative number of unlisted companies that have surpassed a corporate valuation of 1 trillion KRW reached 32, up from 27 at the end of last year. Nine companies, including Coupang, HYBE, and Woowa Brothers, which are not currently included in the unicorn list, were excluded due to listing or M&A.

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 unicorn in the data platform sector, to encourage its employees.

Minister Lee met with IGAWorks CEO Ma Guk-seong and representatives from Premier Partners, the first investor in the company, to discuss the difficulties startups face in growing into unicorns and government policy directions. They also discussed the necessity of a multiple voting rights system to secure stable management rights for founders and attract large-scale investments.

Founded in 2006, IGAWorks is a SaaS (Software as a Service) company with big data analytics technology. It was selected for the Ministry’s preliminary unicorn support program in 2020 and recorded sales of 181 billion KRW last year.

Minister Lee said, "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 a supportive ecosystem."

He emphasized, "We will focus on promoting policies that accelerate unicorn growth by fostering new technology startups, globalizing startups, and attracting private investment funds."

He encouraged, "Do not be satisfied with being a unicorn; let’s work together with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to enter the global market," adding, "The government will play a strong supporting role."

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