High-value Startups
The number of startups and venture companies with a corporate value of more than 100 billion won increased about five-fold in four years.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups analyzed the corporate value of 3,381 startups and venture companies that received investment between 2015 and 2019. The aggregate value of these companies stood at 124.77 trillion won, which is equivalent to 59 percent of the total market capitalization of KOSDAQ-listed firms. In the KOSPI market, the figure was larger than the market capitalization of any other company except Samsung Electronics, the most valuable company in Korea.
In particular, startups and venture companies with corporate value of more than 100 billion won increased 4.6 times from 51 in 2015 to 235 in 2019. The number surged in 2018 (43) and in 2019 (77).
By industry, the value of companies in the bio and medical sectors was the highest at 61.5 billion won, followed by games (45.1 billion won) and chemicals and materials (39.8 billion won). Among sectors related to the 4th Industrial Revolution, the 5G sector had the highest corporate value at 67.2 billion won. In addition, investors' investment focus shifted to blockchains in 2017, 3D printing in 2018, and cloud computing in 2019. The area with the highest multiple of corporate value compared to investment amount in 2019 was the cloud computing sector with 20.6 times.
The average number of employees of companies with corporate value of more than 100 billion won was 4.7, surpassing those with corporate value of less than 100 billion won which employed four on average.