Nurturing Leading K-AI Companies: Ministry of Science and ICT Selects 15 Future Unicorns

Many K-Digital Champion Companies Included... Overseas Expansion and Up to 5 Billion Won in Guarantee Support
Overseas Sales of Participating Companies Up 40% in the Past Three Years... Youth Employment Also Expands

Recently, Movawheel, CrossHub, Allmytour, Avis—finalists in the "K-Digital Grand Championship"—and Gadget Korea, an outstanding company selected through the AI startup accelerator program "K-Global Project," were named as targets for the government's next-generation ICT unicorn development initiative.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on June 10 that it has selected 15 promising AI and digital innovation companies to participate in the "Global ICT Future Unicorn Development Project," and will begin full-scale support for scaling up these companies.

Now in its seventh year, this project is the Ministry's flagship ICT growth program, enabling startups with technological capabilities to enter overseas markets and grow into medium-sized and unicorn companies.

Many of the companies selected this year have grown within the Ministry's startup support system. Gadget Korea, for example, was selected last year as an outstanding company in the "K-Global Project," the Ministry's integrated AI and digital startup brand, and this year has also been chosen for the Future Unicorn Development Project.

Additionally, Movawheel, CrossHub, Allmytour, and Avis—finalists in the AI and digital innovation competition "K-Digital Grand Championship"—were also selected for this year's project. This is seen as evidence that the growth ladder is working, with startups that received initial government support proving their competitiveness and then moving on to receive further scale-up assistance.

Overseas Sales Up 40%... Increased Influx of Young Talent

The results of the project are becoming visible. As of last year, a total of 104 companies had participated in the program. According to a recent survey by the Ministry of Science and ICT of 45 participating companies over the past three years (2023–2025), these companies recorded 15.4 billion won in overseas sales last year, a 40% increase from the previous year.

There has also been a job creation effect. The total number of employees at participating companies was 2,306, up 8.6% from the previous year. Of these, about 58% were young professionals aged 34 or younger. The Ministry explained that this demonstrates a virtuous cycle, as corporate growth leads to an influx of young ICT talent.

This year, the Ministry will provide the 15 selected companies with customized overseas expansion programs. Each company will receive support to enter two countries, and utilize overseas hubs such as KIC Silicon Valley in the United States, overseas IT support centers in Singapore and Vietnam, and the Korea-India SW Cooperation Center to help discover local clients and match global investors.

The Ministry will also support funding. Participating companies can receive up to 5 billion won in working capital guarantees over three years per company, pending a separate review and evaluation by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund. Seoul Guarantee Insurance will offer increased guarantee limits and a 10% discount on insurance premiums. The Korea Exchange will support companies in settling into the KOSDAQ market through technology-special listing seminars and tailored one-on-one consulting.

In fact, in collaboration with the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, the Ministry provided a total of 57 billion won in guarantee funds to participating companies last year.

Lee Dokyu, policy chief at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Companies that have participated in the Future Unicorn Development Project are achieving successful listings and entering the ranks of unicorn companies, emerging as key players in Korea's ICT industry. We will actively support promising domestic ICT firms in becoming world-class companies leading the global market, from securing capital to successfully establishing themselves overseas."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.