Settlement 2017 `Innovative Growth Leader` Start-up

2017 has been the year in which start-ups showed the potential to become a key player in innovation growth. In the four years since its foundation, companies that have exceeded KRW 10 billion in annual revenues have emerged, and a simple remittance service has exceeded KRW 1 trillion in monthly remittances.

Large corporations and venture capital invested in start-ups. Nexon introduced Kobit, Korea`s first virtual currency exchange, to the M & A market by acquiring Kobit for about KRW 91.3 billion. The company also has a market paradigm such as "Tos" operator Bibari Publicica and delivery app "Delivery Nation" The follow-up investment news of the changed start-up has also been heard.

The government also announced plans to strengthen the role of `primer` in revitalizing entrepreneurial ecosystem. November, announced the "Plan for Creating an Innovative Entrepreneurial Ecosystem", including the creation of an innovation adventure fund.

◇ High-speed growth showing new services = The most attention-getting start-up this year is by far the most popular `Vivari Publications`. The company was named the 35th among the top 100 global tech companies in 2017 by KPMG, a global accounting and consulting firm, and Venture Capital (VC) H2 Ventures. It is the first among domestic PinTech start-ups.

"Tos", a simple remittance service of Vivari Publica, recorded impressive growth, exceeding the cumulative subscribers of 6.5 million, cumulative downloads of 12 million, and monthly remittances of KRW 1 trillion. The number of remittances and remittances in November increased more than five times from the same month last year. In the first half of 2015, there were about 10 employees and the number of employees increased to 115 in two years.

The Fast Campus, which provides adult education services, has been on the road to success, with sales of KRW 11.3 billion in September and more than 10,000 students attending and fast Campus, which provides various premium educations necessary for company practice, is continuously expanding B2B business.

Besides, Star Office Fast Five provided a shared office with a vacancy rate of 1%. Ten stores opened in Gangnam and fashion app style share exceeded 20 billion won in store sales. Mesh Korea, which is a logistics solution company that received the prize from the Small and Medium Venture Enterprise Minister for Korea Digital Innovation Grand Prize, and Red Velvet Ventures, the operator of insurance management application "Bommap" are also noticeable. Mesh Korea has partnered with McDonald`s this year, Lotteria and BGF I also worked with retailers. Providing integrated logistics management solutions for E-Mart and Timon, as well as Singapore`s largest online grocery retailer. Red Velvet Ventures, which had been in the start-up scarcity of the insurance industry, has partnered with six insurance companies, including Shinhan Life Insurance, and has posted a remarkable growth, including 400,000 cumulative downloads and 300,000 subscribers.

◇ Start-up investment uptrend such as Nexon and Korbit acquisition = Start-up investment has been active, including large-scale M & A, which is close to KRW 100 billion this year, and several large-scale investments of several hundred billion won.

Nexon acquired Koibit, the first company in Korea to open a virtual currency exchange for KRW 91.15 billion. This is the case of a large amount of commissioning of start-ups after a long time since Cocoa bought KIMGASA for 62.6 billion won in 2015.

Naver`s aggressive investment is also noticeable. Naver is not only running its own start up training center, D2, but also has KRW 35 billion for elegant brothers, KRW 24 billion for Mesh Korea, KRW 7.5 billion won for OGQ, creator market platform operator, 5 billion won for Drama & , And invested 3 billion won in roof-lot to confirm indoor location. "The start-up M & A, like Nexon`s acquisition of Covert, has been around for a long time, and investment in start-up has increased," said Lee Gi-Dae, CEO of Startup Alliance. "In order for the ecosystem to become active, more M & "He said.

According to the Start-up Alliance, the start-up that attracted the largest amount of investment in a single investment this year is Yowalja (KRW 60 billion), which provides information on small and medium-sized lodging properties. In addition, the company has attracted a large amount of investment including Wibari Pubilica (55.5 billion won), social commerce Timon (50 billion won) and premium chicken breast brand ` , Fuller (22 billion won), ASE (17.8 billion won), Vespin Global (17 billion won), Treasurer Hunter and Parking Cloud (15 billion won) attracted more than 15 billion won.

◇ Government Supports Start-up Growth = The government announced plans to create an eco-innovation business in early November, clarifying its commitment to easing regulations and opening funds to boost the industry.

Meanwhile, over the next three years, we will support KRW 20 trillion in loan programs for innovative investment funds, KRW 10 trillion, technology guarantee funds and other financial investment institutions and private investment companies. In addition, the venture confirmation system will be left to the private sector and will be fully revamped to focus on innovation and growth.

It will also expand private-led entrepreneurship support, such as strengthening the TIPS program, which will be selected by the private sector and supported by the government. We will strengthen the support for entrepreneurship of excellent talent through the activation of in-house and intra-company start-ups, which are highly likely to be successful, and for creating talent in various fields and creating jobs.

It will revive the stock option tax exemption exception within 10 years in order to revitalize the investment recovery market, and expand the tax support such as the angel investment income deduction and the increase of the deduction limit of the employee stock ownership income.

In fact, the start-up and venture budgets for next year will be increased to KRW 637.3 billion, an increase of KRW 200 billion from this year.

◇ Start-ups with a high level of publicity = At the end of June, Moon Jae-in, the first US businessmen in the US, raised interest in start-ups by including key start-up representatives.

Start-up representatives who have been making market innovations through the nation and toss service of delivery, such as chairman Kim Bong-jin (representative of elegant brothers) and Lee Seung-kun, president of Korea Pin Tech Industry Association (representative of Vivari Publica) .

Besides, the perception of entrepreneurship of enterprise employees changed positively. According to the Start-up Alliance`s `2017 Start-up Trend Report`, the ratio of positively thinking about entrepreneurship among executives of large corporations was 44%, up 4.4% from the previous year, and 10.4% I think it is a good idea.

The ratio of considering start-up turnover was significantly lower than the 42% that was not considered as 26%, but the rate of positive change in the past one year was 76.9%, indicating that start-up awareness improved.

◇ Promising Clean Company Start-up Korea Start-up Forum was held on September 26, the first anniversary of its launch, △ No legal inheritance management and unfair family management △ Improvement of work environment of workers △ Duty to fulfill tax obligations △ Commitment to economic development And a commitment to a transparent and right society.

The start-up is expected to take the lead in creating a transparent and trustworthy industrial ecosystem. The chairman of the forum, Kim Bong-jin, announced a plan to sell 10 billion won from his personal stake in a personal SNS at the end of October, a month after the declaration, and to return it to society, raising the credibility of the New Economic Declaration.

The Small Business Promotion Corporation, a subsidiary of small and medium venture firms, is in operation to cultivate technology start-ups and also concentrates on "Entrepreneurship" education in the Young Entrepreneurship School, which produces 300 to 400 graduates of founders every year.


By Park Jong Jin truth@


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