Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency Publishes Startup Ecosystem Report: "Shift Needed Toward Scaling Up"

On July 27, the Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency published the 'Gyeonggi-do Startup Ecosystem Trends Report' and suggested that the direction of Gyeonggi-do's startup policy should shift from quantitative growth to a focus on scaling up—expanding the size of businesses and organizations.

The report was prepared to analyze the overall startup ecosystem in Gyeonggi-do—including startup companies, venture investment, startup infrastructure, research and development capabilities, and market accessibility—using the latest published statistical data, and to identify future policy directions and tasks.

According to the report, as of 2025, there were 71,081 technology-based startups in Gyeonggi-do, accounting for 32.2% of the total in South Korea—the largest number nationwide. For the first time, the proportion of technology startups among all startups exceeded 20%, indicating that the technology-intensive startup structure is now taking off in earnest.

While the number of new manufacturing startups declined, information and communications startups increased, confirming a trend of technology startups being restructured around knowledge-based service industries.

Venture investment continued its growth. In 2025, new venture investments in Gyeonggi-do amounted to 1.5888 trillion won, up 22.6% from the previous year. Gyeonggi-do's share of nationwide venture investment also expanded to 23.3%.

Startups that attracted more than 10 billion won in investment made up 22.3% of the national total, ranking second after Seoul.

With deep tech companies in fields such as semiconductors and biotech concentrated in the area, the virtuous cycle promoting both technology startups and increased investment has been further reinforced.

The region also ranked at the highest national level in terms of startup foundation and innovation capabilities. Public startup spaces in Gyeonggi-do accounted for 18.7% of the national total, making it the region with the most public startup spaces. It also recorded the largest number of company-affiliated research institutes and corporate research personnel in the country.

Gyeonggi-do Startup Ecosystem Trend Report

On the other hand, startup accelerators accounted for only 9.8% of the national total, and small business startup investment companies accounted for just 7.0%, indicating that private investment and acceleration infrastructure remain relatively weak.

The report proposes that in order to strengthen follow-up investment for local companies, public startup spaces should be reorganized as growth platforms that link investment and networks, and a deep tech startup ecosystem should be strengthened, focusing on strategic industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), manufacturing AX, advanced semiconductors, and advanced biotechnology.

It also suggested that testbeds and professional acceleration programs by industry, as well as industry-specific funds, should be connected. Furthermore, it is necessary to establish a metropolitan area-linked startup ecosystem that connects the industrial and demonstration base in Gyeonggi-do with the investment and global network in Seoul.

Hyungon Kim, President of the Agency, stated, “We will strengthen our scale-up support system so that promising companies in Gyeonggi-do can grow into high-growth companies by linking Gyeonggi-do's solid technology startup foundation with private investment and global networks. We will also reinforce our role as a policy think tank leading Gyeonggi-do's industry and startup policies by expanding data-driven policy research.”

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