Social Ventures Continue to Increase... Employment Rate of Vulnerable Groups at 69%

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces '2022 Social Venture Survey'

The number of 'social venture companies' established to solve social problems has been steadily increasing.

Photo provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

On the 20th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the '2022 Social Venture Survey' analyzing 1,856 companies that responded to the survey out of 2,448 companies identified as social ventures as of last year.

The number of social venture companies increased by 12.1% (264 companies) compared to the previous year. The number of social ventures grew from 998 companies in 2019 to 1,509 in 2020, and 2,184 in 2021.

By region, the Seoul metropolitan area had the highest number with 824 companies (44.4%), followed by the Yeongnam region (21.5%), Honam region (14.5%), Chungcheong region (13.9%), and Gangwon·Jeju (5.7%).

The average business age was 7.8 years, with more than 50% of startups established within the last 7 years.

Social venture companies employed an average of 21.6 people last year. Among them, the average number of regular employees was 19.3, and the average number of non-regular employees was 2.3.

The proportion of social venture companies employing vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly was 69.0%. It was confirmed that they employed an average of 11.5 vulnerable individuals. The average number of employees aged 55 and over was 8.0, and the average number of people with disabilities was 1.9.

The average sales revenue was 2.8 billion KRW, an increase of 450 million KRW compared to the previous year. The ratio of organizations and personnel holding research and development (R&D) capabilities was also recorded at 62.7%.

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, “Social venture companies have continued to develop in terms of innovative growth through continuous social interest and innovative technology development,” and added, “We will continue to support the activation of the social venture ecosystem, including general startup support projects, social impact investment, and social impact guarantees.”