Lotte Chemical Raises 13 Billion KRW Fund to Invest in Overseas Startups

130 Billion KRW Second Fund Established... Lotte Fine Chemical Participates to Expand Support Areas and Amounts

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoonju Hwang] Lotte Chemical has established its second fund worth 13 billion KRW to invest in startups. The strategy is to build strategic partnerships by investing in companies with promising future technologies.

On the 17th, Lotte Chemical announced that it, along with Lotte Fine Chemical and Lotte Accelerator, has created the 'Lotte Chemical Innovation Fund 2' with a scale of 13 billion KRW. Lotte Chemical contributed 9.9 billion KRW, Lotte Fine Chemical 2.97 billion KRW, and Lotte Accelerator 130 million KRW.

In December 2019, Lotte Chemical, together with Lotte Accelerator, established the 'Lotte Chemical Innovation Fund 1' with a scale of 5 billion KRW to discover startups in the chemical new materials and eco-friendly sectors. Since then, it has invested in six companies including 'Kemiko,' which possesses high-expansion polypropylene (PP) foam sheet production technology, and 'Blue Bank,' which has mass production technology for functional microorganisms used in water treatment. Collaboration for synergy with these startups is also being considered.

The second fund plans to allocate capital after reviewing its connection and suitability with Lotte Chemical’s 'Green Promise 2030' eco-friendly goals and execution tasks. Accordingly, the scope of startup discovery will be expanded beyond new materials and eco-friendly sectors to include the biohealthcare field. Notably, while the first fund invested in domestic startups, the second fund will extend its reach to overseas startups and increase the investment scale per company.

Going forward, Lotte Chemical plans to hold an 'Innovation Day' for the invested companies, not only to invest but also to share ideas and propose collaboration opportunities. After Innovation Day, a 'Startup Exchange Meeting' will also be conducted to concretize collaboration matters.

Kim Kyohyun, Head of Lotte Group’s Chemical BU, said, "This year marks the first year of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, and we plan to expand eco-friendly businesses as well as enhance capabilities in various specialty materials fields. In the long term, we will expand the Innovation Fund to 100 billion KRW to support startup growth and carry out strategic collaborative activities that create mutual synergy."

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