Seoul has experienced the “second venture boom,” with numbers related to startups and venture investment continuously reaching record highs. In 2021 VC funding increased by 34% compared to the previous year, to $7.7 billion. Venture investment in Korean startups grew 78% year-on-year in 2021 to surpass $6.4 billion. Seoul accounts for 56% of the total amount of investment, hitting a record high of $3.5 billion. The total of unicorns founded in Korea rose to 18, according to the Korean government, with 15 out of 18 unicorns based in Seoul. Korea produced seven new unicorns in 2021, its largest ever number in a year. Newly minted Korean unicorns include virtual asset exchanges Dunamu and Bithumb, real estate brokerage Zigbang, food delivery startup Kurly, used goods trading platform Carrot Market, and content platform Ridi.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government launched an investment promotion agency, Invest Seoul in February 2022 to help international businesses successfully relocate to Seoul. The initiative aims to attract $30 billion in foreign direct investment by 2030. Seoul has also set up a start-up ladder, a special plan for strategic collaborations between existing companies and startups.  

As a successful deep-technology hub, Seoul has seven major industrial clusters such as Biotechnology (Hong-neung), AI and Big Data (Yangjae), Fintech (Yeouido), Robots (Suseo), and IoT (G-valley). The online integrated platform Startup Plus was launched in April 2022 to provide services to startups, including matching with investors and technology transactions. Global startup festival Try Everything takes place in Seoul each year.