SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- 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.

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, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

It was the highest amount for the first half after the 7.64 trillion won recorded in the first half of 2022.

The ministry said the latest figure was due to a number of big investments of over 100 billion won being concentrated into the AI, semiconductor and robotics sectors.

Investments into ICT production rose 143.3 percent on-year, followed by funding for electronics, machinery and equipments, which jumped 90.4 percent from a year earlier. Funding for ICT services also rose 62.2 percent on-year.

But investments in the gaming sector fell by a sharp 76.3 percent on-year, as the number of startups in the industry declined, the ministry said.

Startups that attracted investments over the past three years increased employment by over 11 percent every year after the funding. Among the new hires, 60 percent were under the age of 40, the data also showed.

The startup ministry argued that South Korea's venture investment market seems to have entered the phase of full-scale growth and vowed to work with related ministries to provide policy support to promote further capital inflow.

fairydust@yna.co.kr

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