Five Based on AI
Fifteen companies, including GoPizza and Mathpresso, were selected as this year’s prospective unicorns after overcoming an 8-to-1 competition ratio. This year, a new global category was created for the could-be unicorns, and many startups that could play an active role in the overseas stage were selected. Startups in the AI field stood out, while the number of platforms dropped.
On June 27, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) announced the final selection of 15 companies for special guaranteed support. If selected as potential unicorns, they will be able to receive a special guarantee of up to 20 billion won (US$15 million) from the Technology Guarantee Fund and advisory services for special technology listings.
A total of 120 companies applied for this program making the competition ratio 8:1. A total of 111 would-be unicorns have been selected from 2019 to this year. Of these, seven have succeeded in becoming unicorns with an enterprise value of over 1 trillion won. From this year, the global division was established to foster global unicorn companies. In addition to special guarantees, the plan is to support their entry into the global market through global IR events, among others. Prospective unicorns selected through the general selection process can also receive relevant support if they plan to go global in the future.
This year, the average revenue of the companies selected as would-be unicorns was 26.7 billion won. They have 162 employees altogether. Their cumulative investment attraction was 42.9 billion won and the enterprise value was 219.9 billion won. By industry, the software sector had seven companies (46.6 percent), followed by four companies in the manufacturing sector, three companies in the platform sector, and one company in the content sector.
Significantly, in contrast to last year when half of the 20 prospective unicorns were in the platform sector, this year five startups have core technologies related to AI. The AI companies are GoPizza, a one-person pizza franchise company with AI-based cooking process automation technology; Mathpresso, a math tutoring service platform using AI technology; Airs Medical, an AI-based MRI high-speed image restoration solution; I Hate Flying Bugs, an AI technology-based learning system; and Okestro, an intelligent AI cloud integrated management platform.
The other prospective unicorns are Blue M Tech, an e-commerce platform for specialty drugs; Vive Studios, which produces films, videos, and broadcast programs; Sir.Loin, a beef processing technology and B2B and B2C distribution platform; SmartScore, a golf course solution; Autocrypt, an automotive security and mobility solution; Jarvis & Villains, general income tax refund calculation and filing automation service; JL Chem, an OLED deposition material developer; Coma Technology, a silicon electrode and silicon rings developer; Torder, a tablet-based ordering platform; and Pro-Green Tech, which produces thermochromic dyes, pharmaceutical materials, and cosmetic additives.