Seeding the Future
The Korean government is successfully carrying out its plan for the promotion of investment in venture firms and startups.
The Small and Medium Business Administration announced on April 26 that domestic venture investment reached 358.2 billion won (US$333.6 million) in the first quarter of this year by increasing 29.2 percent from a year earlier, and the number of invested venture firms increased 16.1 percent during the same period to 238.
Out of the investment, 105.4 billion won (US$98.2 million) went to those firms established within three years, while 112.2 billion won (US$104.5 million) was invested in three to seven-year-old firms. The combined amount increased 55.4 percent from 140 billion won (US$130.4 million) or so compared to the same quarter last year, and the ratio grew from 50.5 percent to 60.8 percent. Also, 124 and 61 out of the 238, that is, 52.1 percent and 25.6 percent of the total invested venture firms, were those types of companies, respectively.
The ratio of venture investment in the IT sector increased by 9.0 percentage points year-on-year, and that the service industry, including online marketing, showed 7.7 percentage points of growth. Meanwhile, the percentages decreased by 8.6 percentage points for cultural content, 6.4 percentage points for biotech, and 6.1 percent for the manufacturing sector.