Startup Genome‘s recent Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020 included some interesting insights on the Korean startup ecosystem.
According to the report, there will be 30 “Silicon Valleys” instead of just one, and for the first time, the Seoul ecosystem has ranked 20th globally.
The report valued the entire Seoul ecosystem at $39 billion, compared to the global average of $10.9 billion, and total early-stage funding (seed and Series A) was $1 billion compared to the global average of $431 million.
A closer look at the data shows that the median seed round in Seoul was $443,000, compared to the global average of $494,000, and the median Series A round was $2.8 million, compared to the global average of $2.7 million.
Despite the dominance of chaebol groups in the Korean economy, South Korea ranks as the fifth largest investor in R&D, with approximately $94.5 billion in spending, and has the second-highest ratio of R&D spending to GDP at 4.3%.
According to the report, Seoul’s strengths include its market reach and knowledge compared to the top 30 startup ecosystems and those in the APAC region.
However, it needs to catch up in terms of funding and networking.
Regarding market reach, Seoul scored 9/10 for leading global companies, 3/10 for the size of the local distance, and 3/10 for IP marketing.
Seoul, South Korea, has scored highly in market reach and knowledge according to Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020 but needs to catch up in funding and networking.
The report valued the entire Seoul ecosystem at $39 billion, compared to the global average of $10.9 billion, and total early-stage funding (seed and Series A) was $1 billion compared to the global average of $431 million.
The report found that the median seed round in Seoul was $443,000, compared to a global average of $494,000, while the median Series A round was $2.8 million, compared to a global average of $2.7 million.
According to the report, Seoul’s market reach is driven by international brands such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG.
However, the local market and political environment for intellectual property marketing still need improvement. Seoul scored 10/10 for research and 2/10 for patents in the knowledge category.
The patent score was based on the volume, complexity, and potential of patents in life sciences created in the ecosystem and was lower than the global average in most APAC cities except for Tokyo.
Regarding funding, Seoul scored 3/10 for access and 5/10 for quality and activities. Access was based on the volume of early-stage financing and funding growth.
In contrast, quality and activities were based on the number of local investors, investor experience and activity, and the percentage of active investors in the first quarter of 2020. Despite the low score for access, Seoul has more early-stage funding than the global average.
According to the report, Seoul’s weak performance in networking is partly due to the low number of tech meetups in the ecosystem.
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Korean Startup Ecosystem: Mind the Bridge diagnosed it as a scale-up stage.
