Mind the Bridge has released an analysis of the South Korean innovation ecosystem, identifying 3,359 scaleups in the country. This positions South Korea as the eighth-largest national innovation ecosystem globally, with Seoul ranking as the 11th most developed city.
The ecosystem includes approximately 10,000 startups and 25,000 innovative small and mid-sized enterprises that do not rely on venture capital. The supporting infrastructure consists of about 700 investors and over 550 innovation brokers managing more than 800 programs.
The report attributes this growth to two decades of government strategy. Key milestones include increasing R&D spending to at least 5% of GDP in 2008 and launching the Tech Incubator Program for Startup in 2013. Additionally, 17 regional Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation were established between 2014 and 2015.
The analysis emphasizes that South Korea has transitioned from being comparable to Australia and Spain a decade ago to becoming a leader among peer economies. Recent policy shifts starting in 2022 have focused specifically on deep technology innovation to maintain this momentum.
