The Startup Ecosystem of South Korea

South Korea boasts 5 cities in the top 1000 and is one of the leading startup hubs in East Asia.

COUNTRY RANKING

Since 2022, South Korea lost 2 spots in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index, having now positioned itself as 21st worldwide.

Population

51.7
Million

Regional Ranking

3rd
-
1
In East Asia

Global Ranking

21st
-
2
Worldwide
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ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of South Korea

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in South Korea

Our startup ecosystem map for South Korea includes a sample of 679 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 14 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 3 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

South Korea is ranked within the top 30 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

South Korea’s startup scene is best represented in Social & Leisure, Education, and in and Fintech.

Top Cities for Startups in South Korea - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2022 National Rank & Change â–Č
2022 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal ScoreQuantity ScoreQuality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
25th
-
2
30.111
3.30
23.57
3.25
2nd
0
207th
-
45
3.906
0.06
0.86
2.99
3rd
0
421st
+
136
1.099
0.05
0.21
0.84
4th
+
1
794th
+
46
0.276
0.03
0.04
0.21
5th
-
1
980th
-
225
0.167
0.01
0.03
0.13
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Startups

Notable Startups in South Korea
OP.GG startup icon
OP.GG
O-House startup icon
O-House
Bithumb startup icon
Bithumb

Startups

Successful Social & Leisure startups in South Korea
Contents First startup icon
Contents First
MyMusicTaste startup icon
MyMusicTaste
JoyCity startup icon
JoyCity

Startups

Startups Ranking by Industry

Social & Leisure icon
Social & Leisure
#14 worldwide

On our map, you can explore a total of 209 for Social & Leisure.

Education icon
Education
#19 worldwide

In East Asia, South Korea's Education is in top 19. South Korea has a concentration of about 111 of the region's total Education startups that are represented on our map.

Fintech icon
Fintech
#26 worldwide

South Korea's Fintech is ranked 26th in the world. Our database contains 104 for this industry.

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Recent Posts

Tue Mar 14 2023

EP 33: Do Small Countries Have an Edge in Building a startup Ecosystem?

Do small countries have an edge in building a startup ecosystem? In this episode, the StartupBlink team and Eli David discuss the unique advantages of small countries for building a thriving ecosystem. In StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2022, 9 out of the top 20 highest-ranked countries had a population of less than 10 million, [
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Wed Mar 08 2023

How can collaborating with StartupBlink as an ecosystem partner help your ecosystem and organization?

Collaborating with StartupBlink as a data partner can bring a range of benefits to your organization and ecosystem. As the most comprehensive startup ecosystem map and research center, we publish the Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report (GSEI) annually, ranking the top 1,000 cities and 100 countries worldwide.  StartupBlink’s GSEI is based on an elaborate algorithm [
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Tue Feb 28 2023

The Top 30 Countries by Absolute Power in 2022

What is Absolute Power? Generally, StartupBlink’s GSEI scoring algorithm calibrates the countries’ total score to their population size to check the startup outputs of countries per capita.   The “Absolute Power” algorithm ignores the size of the population and looks at the absolute amount of startup output per country to compare their dominance regardless of population [
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