Five startups join the ranks of unicorns in the first half of this year

Five South Korean startups joined the ranks of unicorns in the first half of 2022, the largest such figure for six months. 

With that, the total number of unicorns in the country increased to 23.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced Thursday that the operator of big data management platform IGA Works, mobile game developer Shift Up Corp., cloud firm Megazone Cloud, fresh produce market operator Oasis, and accommodation platform GC Company became unicorns or private firms with a valuation of at least $1 billion. 

To put the number into perspective, just five startups became unicorns for the entire duration of 2021. 

The ministry publishes the list based on information on CB Insight and independent research.

Despite the rise in the number of unicorn startups, experts say the overall ecosystem trails far behind that of other countries. 

There are 628 unicorn startups in the United States, 174 in China, and 68 in India, according to CB Insight.

Industry insiders are calling on the government to relax its policies regarding the startups' corporate structure, such as allowing multiple voting rights of founders.

IGA Works' founder and CEO Kuk-seong "Eric" Ma told visiting Startup Minister Lee Young that such regulations dampen the companies' willingness to raise much-needed funds. 

Write to Joo Wan Kim at kjwan@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.