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South Korea

Asia · Pop. 51.8M · #7 startup ecosystem by EV

1 Overview

4,276 Pool of Funded Startups
New Startups
760 Annual Startups FoundedAll new ventures
620 Annual Startups FundedReceived investment
get funded 82%
3,299Startups
1,134 Pre-Seed Startups$100K–1M
1,079 Seed Startups$1–4M
Pre-Seed to Seed 13%
1,086 Series A Startups$4–15M
Seed to Series A 20%
837Breakouts
598 Series B Breakouts$15–40M
A to Series B 29%
239 Series C Breakouts$40–100M
B to Series C 24%
140Scaleups
105 Mega Scaleups$100–250M
reach Mega 2.5%
35 Mega+ Scaleups$250M+
reach Mega+ 0.82%
50Valuation Outcomes
44 Unicorns($1–10B valuation)
reach Unicorn 1.0%
6 Decacorns($10–100B valuation)
reach Decacorn 0.14%
44 Unicorns$1–10B valuation · founded or headquartered in South Korea, listed companies included · newest first
6 Decacorns$10–100B valuation · founded or headquartered in South Korea, listed companies included
Pre-Seed
1,134
Seed
1,079
Series A
1,086
Series B
598
Series C
239
Unicorn
44
Decacorn
6

* C→Unicorn and Unicorn→Decacorn rates are derived from current counts (no founding-cohort data); the four mid-funnel rates use Dealroom's cohort tracking.

44 Unicorns$1–10B valuation · founded or headquartered in South Korea, listed companies included · newest first
6 Decacorns$10–100B valuation · founded or headquartered in South Korea, listed companies included

2 VC investment

How much venture capital flows into South Korea

VC investment into South Korea-headquartered companies, broken down by round size, company location, sector and funding stage. Only Dealroom-verified VC rounds are included; companies tagged mature or outside tech are excluded.

3 Enterprise value

How much South Korea’s VC-backed companies are worth

Combined enterprise value of VC-backed companies headquartered in South Korea, founded since 1990 and still operating, at the end of each year. Companies stay in the total after they list or are acquired.

4 Largest rounds

Largest funding rounds in South Korea

A live treemap of $100M+ verified rounds from the Dealroom API. Each cell is one round into a company headquartered in South Korea, grouped by Dealroom sector. Companies tagged mature or outside tech are excluded.

Largest rounds in South Korea - 2024–2026

Every $100M+ verified VC round into South Korea-headquartered companies in 2024–2026, excluding mature and outside-tech companies, grouped by Dealroom sector.
- rounds · - raised
Live from Dealroom API Open full VC dashboard

5 Global investors

How the world invests in South Korea

Foreign investors took part in 24% of South Korea's disclosed rounds since 2024, and those rounds carried 46% of the capital. South Korea ranked #6 in the world for VC invested in 2025 and #10 (tied with Switzerland) by unicorns; Seoul is #10 in the Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026.

Data: Dealroom, 5 October 2026.

#6country by VC invested, 2025$8.1B, between Germany and France
46%of VC since 2024 was in rounds with a foreign investor24% of rounds; 372 foreign investors active
#10country by number of unicorns (tied with Switzerland)50 companies founded or headquartered in South Korea have reached a $1B valuation, listed ones included
#10Seoul in the Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026Ranks higher in Gaming (#8), Foodtech (#9) and Semiconductors (#9)

Rank among countries by VC invested: from 12th in 2015 to the top 8 every year since 2021

Best rank #6, held every year from 2021 to 2025. 2026 is year to date.

#1#5#10#15#6#82015201720192021202320252026 YTD

Rounds with a foreign investor took 46% of VC capital since 2024

Each bar is 100% of the year's VC capital into South Korea-headquartered companies, in rounds with disclosed investors; blue is the capital in rounds with at least one investor headquartered outside South Korea. The full round counts, not the foreign investor's share of it.

Share of capital25%50%75%100% 75% 2017 64% 2018 60% 2019 35% 2020 55% 2021 41% 2022 51% 2023 31% 2024 51% 2025 56% 2026 YTD
  • Rounds with a foreign investor
  • Domestic investors only

Foreign investors since 2024: South Korea has one of the lowest shares of capital and of rounds among the 8 peer countries

For each country, the share of VC capital and the share of rounds since 2024 in rounds with at least one investor based abroad. A round counts in full, however much the foreign investor put in. Only rounds with at least one known investor are included. Bars run from 0 to 100%.

Share of capital since 2024

  1. Israel95%
  2. Germany94%
  3. Singapore92%
  4. United Kingdom89%
  5. France81%
  6. India80%
  7. Japan46%
  8. South Korea46%

Share of rounds since 2024

  1. Israel88%
  2. Singapore76%
  3. Germany60%
  4. United Kingdom59%
  5. France57%
  6. India50%
  7. South Korea24%
  8. Japan20%

The late-stage gap: a foreign investor in 59% of $100M+ rounds since 2024, in 26% of rounds under $15M

Share of rounds in each size band since 2024, rounds with a disclosed amount.

20%40%60%Under $15M: 1,042 rounds, $4.1B; rounds with a foreign investor 26%26%Under $15M: 1,042 rounds, $4.1B; rounds led by a foreign investor 6%6%Under $15M1,042 rounds · $4.1B$15–100M: 175 rounds, $5.3B; rounds with a foreign investor 36%36%$15–100M: 175 rounds, $5.3B; rounds led by a foreign investor 12%12%$15–100M175 rounds · $5.3B$100M and above: 22 rounds, $5.2B; rounds with a foreign investor 59%59%$100M and above: 22 rounds, $5.2B; rounds led by a foreign investor 14%14%$100M and above22 rounds · $5.2B
  • Rounds with a foreign investor
  • Rounds led by a foreign investor

Exits since 2017: 138 IPOs and 160 acquisitions

VC-backed companies headquartered in South Korea, founded since 1990, excluding companies tagged mature or outside tech. The figure on each bar is the year's number of exits.

4 2017 7 2018 10 2019 11 2020 38 2021 23 2022 52 2023 51 2024 62 2025 40 2026 YTD
  • IPOs
  • Acquisitions and buyouts

Largest exits since 2017, by valuation at exit

  1. Krafton$3.8B IPO at $19.3B valuation
  2. Kakao Bank$2.2B IPO at $16.2B valuation
  3. Dunamu$10.3B acquisition
  4. Kakao Pay$1.3B IPO at $9.9B valuation
  5. Woowa Brothers$4.0B acquisition

Rounds since 2024 by the foreign investor's home country: the US in 270, Singapore in 94

Each round counts once per country of its investors.

  1. United States270 rounds · 118 investors
  2. Singapore94 rounds · 26 investors
  3. Japan61 rounds · 36 investors
  4. United Kingdom19 rounds · 16 investors
  5. China13 rounds · 13 investors
  6. France12 rounds · 7 investors
  7. Hong Kong11 rounds · 7 investors
  8. Germany11 rounds · 11 investors
  9. United Arab Emirates10 rounds · 8 investors
  10. India8 rounds · 8 investors

Most active foreign investors in South Korea since 2024

372 investors headquartered outside South Korea joined at least one round since 2024, alongside 818 domestic investors. "Led" counts rounds where Dealroom records the investor as lead.

  1. AntlerSingapore, Singapore · Accelerator63rounds59companies9led
  2. Strong VenturesLos Angeles, United States · VC40rounds34companies12led
  3. 500 GlobalPalo Alto, United States · VC34rounds30companies10led
  4. Altos VenturesMenlo Park, United States · VC23rounds21companies8led
  5. Sazze PartnersSan Jose, United States · VC22rounds19companies5led
  6. Goodwater CapitalBurlingame, United States · VC10rounds9companies5led
  7. Z Venture CapitalTokyo, Japan · Corporate9rounds8companies2led
  8. SBI InvestmentTokyo, Japan · Corporate9rounds9companies3led
  9. Han River PartnersMenlo Park, United States · VC7rounds6companies1led
  10. The Spartan GroupSingapore, Singapore · Corporate6rounds6companies0led
  11. Base VenturesBerkeley, United States · VC6rounds6companies2led
  12. DG Daiwa VenturesTokyo, Japan · VC5rounds5companies4led

Policy-backed capital: a state bank, agency or fund-of-funds in 36% of capital since 2024, and in 9 of the 22 rounds of $100M or more

Investors matched by name (KDB, IBK, KVIC, K-Growth, KIBO, KODIT, KIC, the National Pension Service, ministries, TIPS, the SME agencies). Money routed through fund-of-funds into private VCs is not visible, so this is a floor.

12%of rounds since 2024
36%of disclosed capital
48%of $100M+ round capital
63rounds with both a policy-backed and a foreign investor
  1. KDB · Korea Development Bank95 rounds
  2. IBK · Industrial Bank of Korea92 rounds
  3. KODIT · Korea Credit Guarantee Fund48 rounds
  4. KISED · Korea SMEs and Startups Agency19 rounds
  5. KIBO · Korea Technology Finance Corporation16 rounds
  6. SBA (Seoul) · Seoul Business Agency5 rounds

Where the capital goes since 2024, and how much of it is foreign

Semiconductors draws the highest foreign share of capital (72%), Health the lowest (22%). Companies tagged Artificial Intelligence took 63% of South Korea's VC in 2026 so far, against 75% worldwide.

IndustryVC since 2024Foreign share of capital
Semiconductors$2.9B72%
Health$2.2B22%
Transportation$2.1B41%
Enterprise Software$1.7B62%
Robotics$1.2B28%
Media$907M38%
Fintech$676M55%
Fashion$603M39%
Energy$517M25%
Marketing$509M52%

Seoul Capital Area: $19B of VC since 2024, #10 among 30 major tech hubs

Metro areas, not city limits: Seoul Capital Area includes the cities around Seoul, and Paris is the whole Ile-de-France region. The rank is among 30 major tech hubs tracked as Dealroom metro regions, not every city in the world. Seoul is #10 in the Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026, which also weighs company value and outcomes.

  1. Greater London$50B #3 of 30
  2. Beijing Metropolitan Area$28B #6 of 30
  3. Shanghai Metropolitan Area$25B #8 of 30
  4. Ile-de-France$19B #9 of 30
  5. Seoul Capital Area$19B #10 of 30
  6. Singapore$18B #11 of 30
  7. Bengaluru Metropolitan Area$17B #12 of 30
  8. Greater Tel Aviv$13B #13 of 30
  9. Greater Tokyo Area$12B #14 of 30
  10. Berlin/Brandenburg$7.5B #19 of 30
  11. Sydney$3.7B #25 of 30

Source: Dealroom Next Gen API, 5 October 2026. 8,853 verified VC rounds and 298 exits of South Korea-headquartered companies since 2017; 2,918 participating investors and acquirers resolved to a headquarters.

About the data

Rounds are Dealroom-verified VC rounds (seed to growth equity) into companies headquartered in South Korea, excluding companies tagged mature or outside tech; the same definition applies to every country and metro hub it is compared with. Shares of capital and rounds use only rounds with at least one investor whose headquarters is known; 2,792 rounds without disclosed investors are excluded from those shares but included in totals. A round counts as having a foreign investor when any participant is headquartered outside South Korea, so the foreign capital shown is the full size of mixed rounds, not the foreign investors' cheques. Firms with several Dealroom records (same website) are counted once. Woori Venture Partners, Digital Healthcare Partners, Meritz Securities are counted as Korean: Dealroom's record places their headquarters abroad by mistake, and the correction is pending in Dealroom.

Unicorn counts follow Dealroom's definition: companies founded after 1990 that reached a $1B valuation, including companies since listed or acquired. Counts and ranks include companies founded or headquartered in each country, as in the funnel; duplicate Dealroom profiles of the same Korean company are counted once. Country ranks compare all countries by VC invested in the year. Exits are IPOs, acquisitions and buyouts of South Korea-headquartered VC-backed companies founded since 1990, on the same exclusions as the rounds; the listing exchange is not recorded. Policy-backed investors are matched by name and understate money routed through fund-of-funds. The current year is year to date. The Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026 rank is taken from the published report.

6 Ecosystem index

Seoul in the Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026

Seoul is 10th of 325 hubs in the Global Champions ranking, up 1 on last year, and 40th among Rising Stars. Within the index's sector rankings it places highest in Gaming (#8), Foodtech (#9), Semiconductors (#9). About the index.

#10Global Championsup 1 on 2025
#40Rising Starsup 8 on 2025
#104Density Leadersup 2 on 2025
325hubs rankedDaejeon #163, Busan #225 in Global Champions

Global Champions ranking: Seoul against other hubs

Bar length follows the index score. Switch between the world table, APAC and the peer hubs used elsewhere on this page.

Seoul among the first 15 of 325 hubs

Change since 2025

  1. #1 Bay Area
  2. #2 New York City
  3. #3 Boston
  4. #4 London
  5. #5 Los Angeles
  6. #6 Austin 2
  7. #7 Tel Aviv 1
  8. #8 Paris 1
  9. #9 Beijing
  10. #10 Seoul 1
  11. #11 Shanghai 1
  12. #12 Bengaluru 1
  13. #13 Washington DC 3
  14. #14 San Diego 2
  15. #15 Chicago

Seoul's rank in the index's sector rankings

Overall Champions rank #10. Seoul ranks above its overall position in Gaming, Foodtech, Semiconductors, and well below it in Defence, Robotics, Health Medtech, Space, Cybersecurity, Energy.

SectorChampions rankvs overall #10Density rank
Gaming#82 places above#16
Foodtech#91 places above#51
Semiconductors#91 places above#38
Life Sciences#133 below#73
Blockchain#188 below#34
Fintech#2313 below#77
Transportation#2313 below#67
AI#2414 below#93
Climate Tech#2818 below#160
Defence#3626 below#36
Robotics#3626 below#52
Health Medtech#4232 below#134
Space#4636 below#63
Cybersecurity#5242 below#96
Energy#8171 below#196

Source: Dealroom Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026, ranking data to the end of 2025; read from the index team's ranking sheet on 5 October 2026. The published report is the source of truth for the official figures.

About the index

The Global Tech Ecosystem Index scores 325 hubs on venture funding by stage over two periods (2017–20 and 2022–25), funding growth, combined enterprise value of VC-backed companies in 2018 and 2025, founders affiliated with local universities, active and pending patents, unicorns and new unicorns, with population, GDP per capita and cost of living as context. Global Champions ranks on absolute scale, Density Leaders per inhabitant, Rising Stars on growth. Sector rankings apply the same scoring to companies in each sector; "vs overall" is the sector rank compared with the hub's overall Champions rank.

7 Location comparison

Unicorns, decacorns and centicorns — South Korea in a global comparison

Companies count where they were founded or are headquartered. Values are per 1M people or totals, as a share of the US (US = 100%) or absolute; bars scale to the largest value in each column. Hover any value for the per-1M rate and absolute count.

8 Global reach

How global are South Korea’s startups?

Share of South Korea-headquartered startups whose web audience is mostly domestic, split across several markets, or mostly abroad, compared with other HQ countries.

Explore startup globalness

Explore the full comparison and methodology ↗

9 Startup hubs

Inside South Korea: 12 startup hubs, 298 universities

Hubs are sized by combined enterprise value; universities by the startup founders they produced. Hover any point for its numbers; the lists rank hubs by EV and universities by founders.

Loading map…
By enterprise value · 5-yr growth
1 Seoul $356B
2 Seongnam (Pangyo) $80.1B
3 Incheon $38.3B
4 Daejeon $14.8B
5 Suwon $8.1B
Universities · founders produced · 298 tracked
1 Seoul National University 342
2 Yonsei University 338
3 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology 186
4 Hanyang University 151
5 Pohang University of Science and Technology 95

10 Universities

Universities and spinouts in South Korea

Spinouts originating from Korean institutions, alongside companies founded by their alumni worldwide. 298 institutions tracked, 29 with recorded spinouts.

Showing 1–12 of 298 institutions
Seoul National University4048446213
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology212221885
Pohang University of Science and Technology151121090
Yonsei University134734177
Hanyang University82031880
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology626280
Korea University6125941
Inha University455500
Ajou University329260
Sogang University347380
Sungkyunkwan University354490
Gyeonggi Science High School for the Gifted (경기과학고등학교)214120
Page 1 of 25

Source: Dealroom · 2 October 2026 · Counts can overlap across institutions.

About spinouts and alumni companies

Spinouts are companies recorded by Dealroom as originating from the institution. Alumni-founded companies count businesses whose founders studied there, wherever those businesses are based. Founder alumni count people; alumni unicorns count companies that reached a $1 billion valuation. The table includes universities, business schools and research institutes headquartered in South Korea, as classified by Dealroom. Schools and parent universities can have separate records. Missing data is shown as a dash; zero means a recorded count of zero. The columns and rows should not be added together. Bars use the highest count in each column across all institutions as their scale.

11 Founder origins

Where South Korea's unicorn founders build

85 founders born in South Korea are behind 53 unicorns; 32% of those were built in the US. Origins are resolved from biography and education history, not current address. Compare with the other origin countries in Asia, ranked by founders or per 1M inhabitants.

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12 Latest quarter

South Korea's latest quarter in venture capital

VC raised by South Korea-headquartered companies in the quarter shown, against the quarter before and the same quarter a year earlier.

Latest complete quarter

 

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More data

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Region Asia Continent / region · Pop. 4694.6M · #4 region by EV Country China Asia · Pop. 1409M · #2 startup ecosystem by EV Country India Asia · Pop. 1450.9M · #4 startup ecosystem by EV Country Israel Asia · Pop. 10M · #5 startup ecosystem by EV City Singapore Metro area · Asia · Pop. 5.8M · #18 city by EV

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