Set to accelerate global unicorn status with up to 20 billion KRW in credit guarantees and comprehensive financial/non-financial support.

BUSAN — The Busan Metropolitan City government, alongside the Busan Institute for Startup and Investment Promotion, announced that Newrizon (CEO Lee Seung-wook), a prominent local tech startup nurtured under the city’s ‘Bunicorn’ initiative, has been selected for the 16th cohort of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund’s (KODIT) ‘Innovative Icon’ program.

This marks the first time a company based in Busan has been chosen for the prestigious Innovative Icon program since its inception in 2019. Newrizon secured its spot among only four companies selected nationwide, proving its exceptional technological competitiveness and growth potential.

Newrizon is one of the 10 local startups designated as a ‘Bunicorn’ by the city and the Busan Institute for Startup and Investment Promotion this year. The company has steadily benefited from tailored growth-stage support, including commercialization funding, investor networking, and participation in the Bunicorn promotional pavilion at FLY ASIA 2026.

A Premier Scale-Up Program for Global Unicorns

The ‘Innovative Icon’ program is a scale-up initiative run by KODIT to discover and foster startups with proprietary technologies and innovative business models, helping them scale into global unicorn enterprises.

Selections are determined through a comprehensive evaluation of technological innovation, growth potential, and revenue-generating capability. Selected companies receive a wide array of support, including:

Up to 20 billion KRW in credit guarantees over three years (with a minimum guarantee fee rate of 0.5%)
Up to 3 billion KRW in equity-linked investments
Comprehensive non-financial services such as overseas expansion assistance, technical consulting, and patent advisory.
To date, 79 companies selected across the first 15 cohorts have achieved remarkable milestones, including four enterprises growing into unicorns with valuations exceeding 1 trillion KRW and 13 companies successfully completing initial public offerings (IPOs) on the KOSDAQ market.

Deep-Tech Innovation Driving Rapid Growth

Founded in Busan in 2020, Newrizon is a deep-tech company that develops and manufactures advanced air filtration materials utilized in semiconductor cleanrooms and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

Based on its proprietary nanomaterial platform, ‘Durafiltex®’, the company has engineered ultra-fine fibers at the 50-nanometer (nm) level over wide surface areas. Compared to conventional glass-fiber HEPA filters, Durafiltex® reduces average pressure drop by approximately 30% while increasing dust-holding capacity by about 1.5 times.

Backed by these cutting-edge technologies, Newrizon was honored with the Prime Minister's Award at Nano Korea 2026, and its research has been featured in international academic journals. The company’s trajectory has been exceptionally steep: its revenue surged from 1 billion KRW in 2023 to 10.2 billion KRW in 2025, alongside a cumulative investment attraction totaling 33.4 billion KRW.

Newrizon currently supplies its products to major industry players such as LX Semicon and POSCO Future M, and plans to aggressively expand into AI data centers and global high-tech markets moving forward.

"Newrizon becoming the first Busan-based company to be selected as an Innovative Icon is a meaningful milestone that demonstrates how local tech startups can achieve nationwide recognition for their technology and potential," said Lee Dong-yeop, Director General of Financial Startup Policy for Busan Metropolitan City. "We will continue to actively discover promising local startups and strengthen growth-stage support across investments, sales channels, and global expansion to foster 'Busan-style unicorn enterprises.'"

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