State-backed startups hire far more than other firms

State-supported startups have posted far higher growth in hiring than other private firms over the past few years with their sales also gaining at a much faster clip, a government report said Wednesday.

The annualized growth rate of state-backed startups averaged 19.3 percent between 2009 and 2015, 5.4 times higher than that for other private small and medium enterprises, according to the report by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startups & Entrepreneurship Development.

It was also 5.8 times more than the corresponding figure for big businesses over the cited period. The state-backed startups created an annual average of 4.1 jobs during the period.

The report was based on a survey of 12,996 startups that received government support when they were established.

The report also showed such state-supported startups registering annual sales of 508 million won ($450,000) on average over the cited period, which expanded at an annual average rate of 20.7 percent.

The growth rate was higher than the 8 percent for non-supported smaller firms in 2015, with sales of large companies shrinking 4.7 percent that year from 2014.

As of 2015, the debt-to-equity ratio of the state-backed startups reached 324 percent, compared with 182 percent for other SMEs and 108 percent for big businesses.

A ministry official said the government will ramp up efforts to provide more support for startups that can create jobs and generate revenue at a much faster pace than other private companies. (Yonhap)