South Korea's stock market for venture firms and startups marked sharp growth this year on the back of the government's push to foster small entities, the bourse operator said Friday.

The daily turnover on the Korea New Exchange market in 2016 came to 2.47 billion ($2.06 million) this year, rising from 1.82 billion won the previous year, according to data by the Korea Exchange.

In terms of market cap, the bourse had 4.3 trillion won as of Dec. 29, soaring from 3.9 trillion won posted at end-2015, the data showed.

"The substantial growth in the KONEX market is thanks mainly to efforts by the government and the KRX to invigorate the bourse to help small and medium-sized businesses," said an official at the KRX.

KONEX opened in June 2013 so that fledgling businesses could raise funds easier via stock sales rather than having to borrow from banks. (Yonhap)