The Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected 50 promising startups with the potential to leap into unicorns valued at 1 trillion won and began full-fledged support to nurture them.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) held the Global Unicorn Vision Declaration ceremony on the 23rd at Startup Venture Campus (SVC Seoul) in Mapo District, Seoul, and announced a vision to nurture 50 global unicorns by 2030.
At the event, a certificate presentation was held for the 50 corporations selected for the Unicorn Bridge program newly established this year, and the corporations shared growth strategies and visions to leap into unicorn corporations in the future.
The Unicorn Bridge program is designed to identify potential unicorn corporations recognized for innovation and growth and support them in securing competitiveness in the global market. Selected corporations receive up to 1.6 billion won in government funding for up to two years, and special guarantees through Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) of up to 20 billion won per corporation are also provided. It also plans to strengthen the foundation for attracting global investment by operating global investor relations (IR), overseas investor networking, support for establishing overseas branches, and public market entry programs.
This year's Unicorn Bridge program selected corporations include Neubility, Robose, Law&Company, beNX, Sage, Security Platform, AIRS Medical, Autonomous a2z, Integration, and Habit Factory, among 50 in total. These corporations attracted an average of 38.4 billion won in investment, and their average corporate value was estimated at about 180.1 billion won. Their average sales were 24 billion won, and average employment was 106 people.
First Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "Global investment attraction is essential for startups and venture corporations to grow into unicorns," adding, "To nurture 50 global unicorns by 2030, we will actively support potential unicorns so they can secure competitiveness in the global market and take another leap forward."