[Startup Struggle ⑦-2] K-Unicorn Project "20 Unicorns Within 5 Years"

Preparing a Package Program to Support Unicorn Growth
Creating Unicorn Supporters and Assisting with Venture Fund Connections

Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun is being interviewed on the 17th at the Ombudsman Support Group of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to expand the number of unicorn companies from the current 11 to 20 within five years by launching the K-Unicorn Project starting this year.

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "With the goal of entering the top four venture nations, we will launch the K-Unicorn Project this year to support expanding the number of unicorn companies to 20 over the next five years. Selecting prospective unicorns to assist their scale-up and attracting private capital are the most important tasks."

Minister Park added, "We plan to increase the number of prospective unicorns to 200 and create what we call Unicorn Supporters, connecting small-scale funds to larger-scale funds, a role that the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will undertake."

The K-Unicorn Project is a policy package designed to support various startups and venture companies to grow into unicorns. The ministry focuses on discovering companies with potential to become unicorns, intensively nurturing them as prospective unicorn companies, and establishing conditions that allow them to be properly evaluated in the venture investment market and quickly attract investments.

Until now, support programs mostly targeted prospective entrepreneurs or companies within seven years of founding, providing commercialization funds or marketing expenses, or matching funds with private venture investment firms and accelerators. Since investments were centered around the Korea Fund of Funds, investments did not scale up, and there were many criticisms that it was insufficient to help scale-ups.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to announce detailed programs and support methods in February and promote them as a key project this year. By supporting companies verified in the private sector, it is expected that domestic and international unicorn candidates will receive larger investments, leading to a virtuous cycle where large-scale growth capital is supplied to the venture investment market.

Professor Lee Jeong-hee of the Department of Economics at Chung-Ang University explained, "Unicorn companies are emerging more in fields related to platforms or the Fourth Industrial Revolution rather than traditional industries or manufacturing. However, Korea's ecosystem is still insufficient for ventures or startups to take an independent path. Rather than support-oriented programs, more focus should be placed on reducing regulations and conflicts with existing industries to create an environment where unicorns can emerge in new industries."