13 locations including Naver, Coway, Yura Corporation, NCsoft, Kakao, Dongwon Home Food, Nexon Korea, and Sungwoo Hitech
The number of domestic venture companies with 100 billion won in sales increased by 30 to 617 compared to the previous year, and the net profit margin of sales was 5.9%, which is 1.9-2.7 times higher than that of large and small companies.
According to the results of ‘2020 Venture 100 Billion Companies Survey’ released by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 25th, as of the end of 2019, there were 617 venture companies, an increase of 30 from the previous year, including 62 new entrants and 32 excluded.
Of these, more than 1 trillion won in sales increased from 11 to 13 last year. These companies are Naver, Coway, Yura Corporation, NCsoft, Kakao, Dongwon Home Food, Nexon Korea, Sungwoo Hitech, Patron, MCNEX, Neople, PowerLogics, and Pub.
It took an average of 17.5 years to reach 100 billion won in sales after the establishment. The average period of the software/IT-based service industry is the shortest at 11.7 years, and the medical/pharmaceutical industry has the longest at 25.0 years.
The total sales of 100 billion venture companies reached 140 trillion won, an increase of 6.18 trillion won compared to the previous year. Compared to conglomerates, it ranks fourth in the business world, after SK. The sales segment was mostly between 100 billion won and 200 billion won, accounting for 67.4% (416 locations) of the total.
Financial and business performances such as growth potential, profitability, and stability were superior to those of large, medium, and small companies. The net profit margin of sales is 5.9%, which is 1.9 times that of large companies (3.1%) and 2.7 times that of small and medium-sized companies (2.2%). In the case of MCNEX, which manufactures mobile and vehicle cameras, it recorded 1,184.9 billion won in sales, up 88.8% year-on-year, ranking first among venture companies with 100 billion won in sales.
The total number of employees of 100 billion venture companies was 232,000, an increase of 6,75 (2.7%) compared to the previous year. The average number of employees per company was 382, down 2.3% from the previous year.
Of the 100 billion venture companies in 2019, the number of export companies was 494, an increase of 36 compared to the previous year, and the total export value also increased by about 8.0% to 30 trillion won. The number of companies accounted for only 0.5% of 99,000 Korean export companies, but the scale of exports accounts for 5.0% of the total.
100 billion venture companies were also active in research and development investment. The ratio of R&D to sales of 100 billion venture companies is 2.8%, which is higher than that of large companies (1.7%) and SMEs (0.7%). Compared to the previous year, it rose slightly.
In particular, the top five companies in the ratio of R&D to sales (Telechips, Celltrion, Jusung Engineering, Silicon Miters, and Eugene Tech) showed an average ratio of 27.8%, indicating that they invest more than a quarter of their sales.
In addition, 100 billion venture companies have a total of 63,119 cases, which is 23.1% of the 273,725 domestic industrial property rights.
The proportion of venture investments received from startup until 2019 is 40.3% (244). The total amount of investment attracted was 1.9 trillion won, and the operating profit ratio of the venture companies that received investment of 100 billion won was more than double and the net profit ratio was three times more than those that did not. The more invested places, the more they devoted themselves to R&D and possessed more industrial property rights.
As of the end of 2019, the Ministry of SMEs analyzed the sales, export status, employment, technology development and industrial property rights of 617 venture companies and announced these results.
Park Yong-soon, Director of Venture Innovation Policy at the Mid-term Ministry of Strategy and Finance, said, “Through this survey, we have confirmed that 100 billion venture companies are playing a supporting role in the economy in many ways.” We will create a startup venture ecosystem that can grow into 100 billion companies and unicorn companies.”