Incheon Venture Companies Show Improved Business Performance Despite COVID-19 Impact... 9.5% Increase in Sales in 2020

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Venture companies in the Incheon area have achieved better business performance despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Incheon City on the 29th, an analysis of the business and employment performance in 2020, when COVID-19 spread, was conducted on 1,663 local venture companies. The results showed excellent business performance, with average sales, operating profit, and number of employees all increasing compared to the previous year.

The average sales in 2020 were 5.738 billion KRW, an increase of 498 million KRW (9.5%) from 5.24 billion KRW in the previous year.

Operating profit in the same year was 195 million KRW, up 5 million KRW (2.6%) from 190 million KRW the previous year, and the number of employees also increased by 1 person (4.8%) from 20.9 to 21.9.

It was found that the larger the scale and the longer the business history of the venture companies, the better the average sales, operating profit, and number of employees.

In 2020, the average sales of medium-sized or larger companies were 24.294 billion KRW, which is 8.5 times that of small companies or less at 2.86 billion KRW; operating profit was 918 million KRW, 11.3 times that of small companies or less at 81 million KRW; and the number of employees was 63.7, 4.5 times that of small companies at 14.2.

Also, for companies with a business history of 8 years or more, the average sales in 2020 were approximately 7.985 billion KRW, three times that of companies with 7 years or less at 2.648 billion KRW; average operating profit was 206 million KRW, 4.7 times that of 44 million KRW for companies with 7 years or less; and the average number of employees was 27.1, twice that of 13.3 for companies with 7 years or less.

The city supports technology development annually to ensure the continuous growth of venture companies. This year, Venture Fund No. 1 and No. 2 were established with a scale of 75 billion KRW, and additional funds are planned to be raised.

As of the end of December last year, among the 1,663 venture companies in the Incheon area, manufacturing accounted for the largest number with 1,310 companies, followed by information processing and software industries with 162 companies. By district, Seo-gu had 481 companies, Namdong-gu 411, and Yeonsu-gu 305, in that order.

An official from Incheon City stated, "Venture companies show better business and employment performance compared to general small and medium enterprises, and continuous growth accelerates performance creation. We will expand support projects for the continuous growth of venture companies based in Incheon."