Seoul: South Korea's investments into startups for the first half of 2026 marked a record high for the six-month period, amid active investments into cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, government data showed Wednesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, a total of 8.87 trillion won (US$6.34 billion) was invested into promising venture firms and startups in the January-June period, up 54.3 percent from the same period a year earlier. This represents the highest amount for the first half after the 7.64 trillion won recorded in the first half of 2022.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups highlighted that the latest figure resulted from several significant investments exceeding 100 billion won, mainly concentrated in the AI, semiconductor, and robotics sectors. Investments into ICT production saw a substantial rise of 143.3 percent on-year, followed by funding for electronics, machinery, and equipment, which increased by 90.4 percent from a year earlier. Funding for ICT services also rose by 62.2 percent on-year.

Conversely, the gaming sector experienced a notable decline, with investments falling by 76.3 percent on-year, attributed to a decrease in the number of startups in the industry, as per the ministry's data.

The data further revealed that startups attracting investments over the past three years increased employment by over 11 percent annually after receiving funding. Among the new hires, 60 percent were under the age of 40. The startup ministry emphasized that South Korea's venture investment market seems to have entered a phase of full-scale growth and expressed its commitment to collaborating with related ministries to provide policy support to encourage further capital inflow.