The Ministry of SMEs and Startups recorded a competition rate of 6.5 to 1 for the second regular investment project of the fund of funds. This is a significant increase compared to the competition rates of 4.5 to 1 in April 2023 and 3.8 to 1 in 2024.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 5th that, as a result of the application for the second regular investment project of the fund of funds under its jurisdiction in 2025, 98 funds applied to invest approximately 1.6 trillion won in the fund of funds. The fund of funds plans to selectively invest around 310 billion won from the application demand to establish about 15 funds with a total size of approximately 600 billion won alongside private capital. It recorded a competition rate of 6.5 to 1 based on the number of funds.
In particular, the 'NEXT UNICORN Project' recorded a competition rate of 6 to 1 in the startup sector and 4.5 to 1 in the scale-up sector, showing considerable competition despite being a newly established project through this year's second supplementary budget. The NEXT UNICORN Project is a program that focuses on investing at different growth stages to help promising domestic ventures and startups secure a place in the global market as the global competition in AI and deep tech accelerates.
So far, the fund of funds has provided early-stage growth capital to promising AI and deep tech ventures and startups, including Rebellions, which has recently attained a corporate value of over 1 trillion won, and Nota, Twelve Labs, and other global AI companies selected for 'CB Insights AI 100 2025'.
The newly established 'NEXT UNICORN Project Scale-Up Fund' aims to concentrate investments more intensively on promising corporations by increasing the average investment amount per corporation to over 10 billion won. Additionally, it has strengthened the linkage between projects to allow outstanding corporations participating in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' support projects to grow through scale-up investments. The fund of funds plans to expand the 'NEXT UNICORN Project', which was initially launched as a pilot in the second supplementary budget of 2025, starting in 2026, to focus its investment capabilities on fostering AI and deep tech unicorns.
Minister Han Seong-suk noted, "To foster AI and deep tech unicorns that lead the global market, it is necessary to focus investments on promising corporations rather than adopting a fragmented approach to funding." She added, "The launch of the 'NEXT UNICORN Project' through this year's second supplementary budget reflects the government's commitment to urgently support domestic ventures and startups in securing a position in the rapidly changing global AI and deep tech market, and I will work to ensure that investment cases can emerge within this year by swiftly proceeding with this investment project."