Student startup boom slows across South Korea, but top universities see sharp rise

Korea Herald

14 hours ago

Student-led startups are losing momentum across most of South Korea for the first time in three years, but at a handful of top universities, entrepreneurship is quietly accelerating.
New data released Monday by the Korea Council for University Education and university startup support centers showed that 1,860 startups were founded by university students nationwide in 2024, falling 7 percent from the previous year's 2,000.
The number of student entrepreneurs also declined, down 6.6 percent year-on-year from 2,137 to 1,997. This marks the first nationwide decline since 2021, when campus activity was still restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The slowdown follows two years of rapid growth in student entrepreneurship; from 2022 to 2023, it surged by more than 23 percent.
The drop is thought to be largely due to a tougher investment climate, a slowing global economy and a significant pullback in government support programs.
Two of South Korea's most prominent early-stage funding initiatives have seen sharp reductions. The "Pre-Startup Package" funded 1,530 companies in 2021, but only 930 in 2023, a 39.2 percent cut. Similarly, the "Early Startup Package" dropped from 900 companies to 590 over the same period, a 34.4 percent decrease.
These programs are a primary funding source for student entrepreneurs who lack access to private venture capital.
According to Lee Ki-dae, head of the Seoul-based Startup Alliance Center, reliance on public support creates a delayed but significant impact. 'Most student startups are not backed by private VC investment but by public or university support, so they tend to react to market changes with a time lag,' he said.
Despite this cooling trend nationwide, four universities are bucking the pattern.
In 2024, Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University and KAIST collectively produced 205 student entrepreneurs, a 31.4 percent increase from 156 in 2023. KAIST alone saw a 53.8 percent jump, followed by Korea University at 50 percent, Seoul National at 44.1 percent and Yonsei at 11.3 percent.
Together, these four institutions now account for over 10 percent of all student entrepreneurs in the country, up from 7.8 percent just two years ago.
'At schools like KAIST or Seoul National, you have stronger labs, better access to funding, and a long history of research in advanced fields like AI, semiconductors and robotics,' Lee said.
'So when deep tech becomes the trend, it's natural that students at those universities are in a better position to start companies. They're surrounded by the right people, equipment and support systems from day one.'