Recruitment of Companies Participating in the 'Baby Unicorn Development Project'

Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 13th that it is recruiting innovative companies to apply for the 'Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project' and the 'Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee' in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation.

This recruitment of innovative companies is part of the follow-up measures to the 'K-Unicorn Project' announced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 9th. The recruitment will continue until the 11th of next month.

The Baby Unicorn (companies valued under 100 billion KRW) 200 Nurturing Project is a newly established program this year. It aims to discover and select baby unicorns that have proven innovative business models and growth potential. The scale of selection this year is around 40 companies.

The Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project is open to startups within 7 years of establishment that have accumulated investment attraction performance of at least 2 billion KRW but less than 10 billion KRW. Selected companies will receive support of up to 15.9 billion KRW, including 300 million KRW for market development costs. The goal is to help them grow into pre-unicorns (companies valued over 100 billion KRW).

The Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee is a scale-up program piloted by the Korea Technology Finance Corporation last year. It has been converted into a regular program this year with improved application requirements. In the first half of this year, about 15 companies will be selected to receive special guarantees of up to 10 billion KRW per company.

For the Baby Unicorn 200 Nurturing Project and the Pre-Unicorn Special Guarantee, the channels for public participation have been greatly expanded so that the public can empathize with and support the selection of candidates. Any member of the public can recommend unicorn candidate companies. Those who become part of the public judging panel will have the opportunity to participate in the selection of baby unicorns and pre-unicorns.

Lee Okhyung, Director of the Venture Innovation Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The K-Unicorn Project is not about the government artificially selecting support targets as in the past, but about the public directly selecting and cheering for promising companies that anyone can empathize with and support. We hope to discover a wide range of such companies." He added, "We ask for the affectionate interest and recommendations of the public so that these companies can apply for and be selected in the K-Unicorn Project."