S.Korea has just 1.2% of world's corporate unicorns: study

The Federation of Korean Industries say the nation’s global share was nearly halved over the past four years

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a speech at Station F in Paris on June 20 (Courtesy of Yonhap)

Hyung-Kyu Kim 1

Jun 22, 2023 (Gmt+09:00) khk@hankyung.com

Korean startups

Among 10 major economies worldwide, South Korea's global share of unicorn companies, or startups with a corporate value of over $1 billion, has shrunk by nearly half over the past four years.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) on Wednesday released a report with this finding after analyzing data from the New York-based global market research company CB Insights.

From late 2019 to last month, the number of unicorn companies in the 10 economies jumped from 449 to 1,209 but that of South Korea saw minimal growth from 10 to 14. The country's global share of unicorns was nearly halved from 2.2% to 1.2%.

The US saw its share of unicorns grow from 48.6% to 54.2%, India 4.5% to 5.8%, France 1.1% to 2.1% and Israel 1.6% to 2%.

South Korea's unicorns were concentrated in e-commerce with 28.6%, internet software and services 21.4%, and mobile and communications 14.3%.

The FKI urged improvement of corporate venture capital (CVC) regulations like requiring a holding company to own 100% of CVC shares and limiting the company’s debt ratio to 200%.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com