산업은행, Growth Support Fund of 9 Trillion Won Established... Leading Domestic Unicorn Company Development

Initial 8 Trillion KRW Fundraising Target Surpassed with 2.3 Trillion KRW Investment in Innovative Companies like Chogwa, Zigbang, and Kakao VX
Incentives Provided, Including Priority Transfer to Private Investors upon Excess Profit, to Absorb Private Liquidity

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Korea Development Bank announced on the 20th that the Growth Support Fund, launched with a goal of 8 trillion KRW over three years to foster an innovative startup ecosystem, is expected to raise up to 9 trillion KRW within this year.

Following the successful raising of 6.1 trillion KRW over two years in 2018 and last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic situation this year as well, 2.5 trillion KRW (based on subscription commitment letters) has been raised by the end of July, and the bank explained that achieving the 9 trillion KRW target within the year is likely.

Under the Growth Support Fund program, over three years, leading domestic private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms such as IMM, JKL, Skylake, and LB Investment have been selected to manage 40 funds and are currently raising 15 funds. As of the end of last month, 2.3 trillion KRW has been invested in about 380 innovative companies, supporting South Korea’s innovation growth ecosystem in the post-COVID era.

Representative cases include providing large-scale venture capital to companies leading the post-COVID era such as SD Biosensor (COVID-19 diagnostic kit manufacturer), Zigbang (online real estate service provider), Kakao VX (screen golf and home training solutions), Wemakeprice (contactless e-commerce company), and MyRealTrip (online travel tech company).

The reason for the success of Korea Development Bank’s Growth Support Fund lies in offering various incentives such as transferring excess profits of the policy finance institution to private investors or reinforcing subordinated positions, thereby successfully attracting liquidity from private institutions that prioritize profitability and stability as growth capital for innovative companies.

Based on its achievements so far, Korea Development Bank plans to actively support industries and companies related to the Korean New Deal project recently announced by the government, presenting a new direction for the domestic PE and VC markets.

A Korea Development Bank official stated, “Since the launch of the Growth Support Fund three years ago, we have strived to support the future of Korea’s innovative industries and the nurturing of unicorn companies with domestic capital,” adding, “To ensure a healthy investment ecosystem continues, we will expand investments in key areas of the Korean New Deal such as contactless, D (Data), N (Network), and A (Artificial Intelligence) from the current 800 billion KRW, continuing support to maximize the effects of government policies related to the New Deal.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.