{
  "id": 6575938,
  "title": "How To Measure An Innovation Economy: South Korea",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/how-to-measure-an-innovation-economy-south-korea",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-10T11:00:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Crunchbase News",
    "slug": "crunchbase-news",
    "url": "https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/measure-innovation-ecosystem-south-korea-onetti-mind-the-bridge/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Measuring an Innovation Economy: The South Korean Case\n\nDetermining the health of an innovation ecosystem poses a challenge, as each ecosystem is unique and no single methodology can universally compare them. Mind the Bridge, a firm that regularly tackles this issue, has developed a model that can compare countries and regions while capturing their distinct characteristics. Recently, they presented the Innovation Economy of South Korea, which provides a good opportunity to outline the methodology used for such assessments.\n\nEvery innovation ecosystem can be represented by a pyramid, with startups forming the base. Startups are venture-backed technology companies still in the process of building and proving their business. Above them are scaleups, or companies that have demonstrated sufficient traction to raise over $1 million in venture capital. The scaleups represent the most visible and structured output of the ecosystem and are among the best proxies for its maturity.\n\nAt the top of the pyramid are outliers that disproportionately impact a country's innovation profile: scalers and super-scalers. These companies have expanded beyond their home market and achieved international scale. Counting these separately, instead of lumping them into an aggregate \"startup\" number, is crucial for a serious methodology.\n\nAlongside this venture-backed pyramid, there is another often under-measured population: innovative SMEs (small and mid-sized companies). These are established, revenue-generating businesses that compete on technology and innovation, rather than venture funding. Ignoring these entities means missing a significant part of the real economy's innovation capacity, especially in ecosystems where corporate-led and government-backed innovation plays a crucial role.\n\nThe technology supply of an ecosystem consists of the layers mentioned above, stemming from local universities and research centers. However, supply alone does not turn into economic impact. Supply only becomes impactful when it meets demand, which is largely represented by corporations, both local and international. Corporations benefit from solutions developed by startups, scaleups, and innovative technology companies, and can support their industrialization and growth through various channels such as acceleration programs, venture capital, corporate venture capital, and M&A.\n\nMeasuring both the supply side and the demand side is essential, as it allows for a more comprehensive understanding of an ecosystem's economic impact and company growth. The interaction between technology supply, corporate demand, and B2C markets (consumer demand) all contribute to the ecosystem's evolution, fueled by capital and public support.\n\nPrivate capital comes from angels, VCs, and corporate venture capital firms, providing resources for companies to develop, commercialize, and scale. Public support takes the form of subsidies, grants, and government programs, delivered either directly or indirectly through innovation agencies, ecosystem builders, and other innovation brokers. The stronger the connection between these capital sources and the companies in the pyramid, the faster they can move from one layer to the next.\n\nAs a local ecosystem reaches a certain threshold in terms of company volume, density, and quality — typically the Star stage of the Innovation Ecosystems Life Cycle Curve — it begins attracting increasing interest from external players. Investors, multinational corporations, and government agencies establish a local presence to access talent, technology, deal flow, partnerships, and market opportunities. Measuring this external attractiveness through corporate and government innovation outposts is a valuable confirmation metric, albeit lagging the ecosystem's real progress by a few years.",
  "summary": "Guest author Alberto Onetti, chairman of Mind the Bridge, shares how South Korea’s rise to the world’s eighth-largest national innovation ecosystem shows how sustained government investment, startup programs, regulatory reforms and deep-tech policies can transform an economy over time.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}