In his presentation about the factors that help the South Korean startup ecosystem to thrive, Startup Alliance Managing Director Jung Wook Lim mentioned “the growing number of aggressive venture investors” as one of them.
In fact, Big Hit Entertainment, the entertainment company behind K-pop giant BTS, is one of those venture-backed companies, despite not being in the tech industry.
“In the last five years, VC investment in South Korea has doubled over US$3 billion. By 2014, there are only 901 VC-backed companies in the country. But by 2018, the number has grown to 1,400,” Jung Wook Lim explained in the presentation.
The managing director also explained that today there are more than 200 local VC firms operating in the country. Even foreign investors are making considerable success in the market; for example, Altos Ventures have four unicorns under their belt.
He pointed out that prominent entrepreneurs in South Korean tech ecosystem are transforming to become angel investors or partners at venture capital (VC) firms, leading to a transfer of knowledge and a continuity in the ecosystem.
In addition to aggressive VC investment, the success of the ecosystem was also attributed to other factors such as strong governmental support, the emergence of startup communities, an influx of capable talents, and warm receptions from local Millennial customers.
In addition to having talents with overseas experience in major corporations or research firms, South Korea also recorded the highest increase in the number of women entrepreneurs over the past year. Notable women founders in the South Korean startup ecosystem included Kyungmi Suh of LinkShops, Mikyun Kim of cizion as well as Mihee Kim and Kyunghee Choi of tutoring.
This notable achievement was reported in the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019.
The presentation was given at the opening of K-Startup Week ComeUp 2019, held in Seoul on November 27-29, 2019.
The event was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Korea Institute of Start-up and Entrepreneurship Development, and the country’s private startup ecosystem.
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It was meant to gather startups, investors, entrepreneurs, media, and the general public in one place to provide an effective occasion for industry networking.
The event stated that it was attended by 15,000 startups and 60 speakers from 30 countries.
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Christine Ayroso also contributed to the writing of this article.
Image Credit: K-Startup Week 2019 ComeUp
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