Creative Economy Pioneers
It has been found that 89 research lab companies in Korea recorded 232.7 billion won (US$211.1 million) in sales and hired 847 employees last year.
A research lab company can be defined as one set up in an R&D zone with at least 20 percent of its capital from a government-funded research institute, a college, a techno holding company, a startup supporter, or the like.
The first research lab company in Korea is Kolmar BNH, invested in by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. As the first KOSDAQ-listed research lab company, it broke the 1 trillion won (US$907 million) mark in market cap on Feb. 3.
In the meantime, DS Broadcast was designated as the 100th research lab company on March 23. The Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning and the Innopolis Foundation held the designation ceremony in Daejeon City for the company, which is working on the commercialization of UHD TV broadcasting equipment developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.
The exact number of research lab companies is currently 105. Six of them were established this year, and 10 completed their registration this year. The number started from two in 2006 and increased by less than 10 for years. However, 43 research lab companies were set up in 2014 alone. The Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning is going to increase it by at least 50 this year.