The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (hereinafter referred to as the MSS) announced on the 12th that it held the 'Baby Unicorn Achievement Sharing Session and Selection Ceremony' at the L Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul to spread the results of the Global Unicorn Project.
The 'Baby Unicorn Development Project' is a project that discovers baby unicorn companies with innovative business models and proven growth potential and develops them into potential unicorn companies with a corporate value of KRW 100 billion or more, and provides up to KRW 300 million in market development funds and up to KRW 5 billion in special guarantees.
From 2020 to 2024, 300 companies were supported, and as a result of measuring performance as of the end of 2024 (estimated), sales increased by 137.6% and the number of employees increased by 23.6% compared to the time of selection. Of these, 212 companies attracted follow-up investment worth 2.4937 trillion won. In particular, 13 companies were selected as potential unicorn companies, and 9 companies were listed on the KOSDAQ market.
On this day, following the performance sharing session, the event presented excellent cases of baby unicorns directly to the participants, conveying their success stories in a realistic manner. Three companies presented excellent cases: Airs Medical Co., Ltd. (selected in 2020), which was selected as a potential unicorn in 2023; Elspeth Co., Ltd., which was selected in 2024 and achieved a corporate value of over 100 billion won; and Cheka Co., Ltd., which was selected in 2024 and attracted 7 billion won in investment.
Afterwards, the 49 companies that were confirmed to be newly selected in 2025 were awarded certificates of selection, thereby boosting their pride as baby unicorn companies. Following the main event, investment IR for the companies selected as baby unicorns in 2025 was conducted, thereby creating opportunities for private investors to take interest in the companies and make direct investments.
Kim Bong-deok, director of venture policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The baby unicorn fostering project has established itself as a representative scale-up program by producing many successful IPOs and potential unicorn growth cases,” and added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will continue to actively contribute to the establishment of a complete venture ecosystem by providing support for baby unicorn companies.”
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