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Coupang joins 600 billion won gov't startup fund in 'unicorn hunt'

Published: 11 Sep. 2025, 17:36 Updated: 11 Sep. 2025, 19:06

Han Seong-sook, the nominee for minister of SMEs and startups, speaks to reporters upon arrival at her office in Seoul on June 24. [YONHAP]

The government is putting big money into new funds to help Korean startups grow, and Coupang is joining in.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Thursday that it has selected the fund of funds for the second regular investment program, committing 310 billion won ($222.6 million) to create 15 venture funds worth a combined 600 billion won.

The competition rate stood at 6.5 to 1. The selected funds must complete their formation within three months and begin investing in the same year.

At the heart of this round is the "Next Unicorn Project," designed to provide large-scale, concentrated investment to help promising Korean startups grow from the early stage to full-scale operations.

By sector, nine "Next Project Startup Funds,” worth 260 billion won, will support AI and deep tech startups founded by entrepreneurs with industry and research backgrounds.

Two “Next Unicorn Project Scale-up Funds,” worth 310 billion won, will back AI and deep tech companies seeking to expand. These funds will invest in high-performing firms recommended by public institutions that have participated in ministry-backed programs.

Coupang, Korea’s first unicorn company — defined as an unlisted startup valued at over 1 trillion won — has joined the effort, contributing 75 billion won to the AI convergence sector within the scale-up fund.

“Based on our accumulated expertise in AI technologies, Coupang hopes to nurture next-generation startups and contribute to the advancement of Korea’s AI industry,” the company said.

In addition, four early-stage small funds worth 20.1 billion won were selected to support general startups at the seed stage.

“This initiative is meaningful as it shows strong private-sector participation in the government’s policy to foster AI and deep tech unicorns,” said Han Seong-sook, minister of SMEs and startups. “The fund of funds will continue to expand its support to help promising companies grow into global players.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]