Ministry of SMEs and Startups: “Venture Investment of 11.9 Trillion Won in 2024, Rebounding from Declining Trend”

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced the domestic venture investment and fund formation trends for 2024 on the 13th.

The venture investment volume in 2024 is estimated to be 11.9 trillion won. This is a 47.5% increase compared to before COVID-19 (2020) and a 9.5% increase compared to the previous year, showing that it has successfully rebounded for the first time since the declining trend in 2021 and is continuing its mid- to long-term growth trend.

Units: Investment amount is in 100 million KRW (억 원), and the number of companies is in units of companies (개).

1. Years (Columns): The table covers five years (2020–2024), with an additional column showing the year-over-year percentage change for 2024 compared to 2023.

2. Rows:

• Investment Amount (투자금액): Shows how much was invested each year (in 100 million KRW).

• Number of Investee Companies (피투자기업 수): Shows how many companies received investments each year.

3. Highlighted Changes for 2024 (rightmost column):

• Investment Amount: 119,457 (up 9.5% from the previous year)

• Number of Investee Companies: 4,697 (up 16.7% from the previous year)

In other words, the table illustrates that after seeing various shifts in total invested capital and the count of funded companies from 2020 to 2023, both the overall investment amount and the number of companies receiving funding are projected to increase in 2024.

Meanwhile, global venture investment decreased by 17.1% compared to 2020 and decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous year, showing that the Korean venture investment market is showing a clear recovery compared to the global market.

Looking at the quarterly venture investment performance, the venture investment scale in the fourth quarter increased by 5% compared to the third quarter (KRW 2.0 trillion in the first quarter → KRW 3.5 trillion in the second quarter → KRW 3.2 trillion in the third quarter → KRW 3.3 trillion in the fourth quarter), showing a good trend, 10% higher than the quarterly average of KRW 3.0 trillion over the past five years ('20-'24).

In terms of investment by industry, as interest in artificial intelligence (AI) grew, investment in ‘ICT services’ increased by 38% year-on-year, while investment in ‘video, performance, and music’ decreased by 23.7%.

The fund formation amount in 2024 is expected to be KRW 10.6 trillion, a 5.7% increase from 2020, while the global venture fund formation size is expected to decrease by 52.6%, indicating that the formation of venture funds in Korea is continuing a relatively solid trend compared to the global venture fund formation trend.

(Units: Korea figures in 100 million KRW; Global figures in US billion dollars)

Rows

1. Venture Investment – Korea

• Amount invested in Korean ventures, listed by year (in 100 million KRW).

2. Venture Investment – Global

• Total global venture investment, listed by year (in US billion dollars).

3. Fund Formation – Korea

• Total amount of venture funds raised (or formed) in Korea each year (in 100 million KRW).

4. Fund Formation – Global

• Total global venture fund formation, listed by year (in US billion dollars).

Columns (Years: 2020–2024)

Each column shows the figures for that specific year. The 2024 column typically reflects projected or recent estimates.

Key Points

• Korean venture investment rose sharply from 2020 to 2021, dipped in 2023, and is projected to pick up again in 2024.

• Global venture investment (in billions of dollars) also fluctuates year to year.

• The same pattern applies to fund formation: both Korean and global numbers show a peak around 2021–2022 and then a downward or leveling trend in 2023 and 2024.

The government is making various policy efforts, such as announcing the entire 2025 SME Mother Fund investment budget (KRW 1 trillion) in January to provide early relief so that the domestic venture investment market can further accelerate its current recovery, and drastically expanding the scale of fund investment in policy areas such as startups and local governments.

Minister Oh Young-joo said, “The scale of venture investment in our country in 2024 will continue to grow steadily even in difficult global market conditions,” and added, “We will faithfully implement the ‘Advanced Venture Investment Market Leap Forward Plan’ announced last October, and continuously strive to create a world-class venture investment ecosystem by reflecting voices from the field and easing regulations.”