Seongdong Impact Venture Investment Fund Starts 2 Billion KRW Investment

Seongdong-gu Social Ventures 'Unique Good Company' and 'Reharvest' Receive Investment, Kickstarting Impact Investment Activation...Nation's First 'Impact Fund' for Social Ventures Established to Promote Growth through Practical Investment Support...5 Billion KRW Contributed Last Year, 2 Billion KRW Seongdong Impact Venture Investment Association Formed to Support Social Venture Growth and Investment Activation

In December of last year, Seongdong-gu held an investment conference for social venture companies in collaboration with seven private enterprises.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) has completed an impact investment of 2 billion KRW in two social ventures, 'Unique Good Company' and 'Reharvest,' through the 'Seongdong Impact Venture Investment Association' formed together with MY Social Company (MYSC) and Eugene Investment & Securities.

This investment is the first of its kind by a local government as part of a social venture support policy utilizing funds.

The 'Seongdong Impact Venture Investment Association' is an impact fund that invests in social ventures realizing social value through sustainable profit activities.

It mainly targets social ventures located in Seongdong-gu or those awarded in innovation competitions, established to solve social issues such as environment and energy, aiming to lead job creation and activation of social ventures through practical support via investment attraction.

Since 2019, the district has opened the way for changing perceptions of impact investment by holding investment presentations, operating investment consultation desks, and actively reflecting opinions from social venture workers on effective support. Last year, it directly invested 500 million KRW and successfully formed the 2 billion KRW scale 'Seongdong Impact Venture Investment Association.'

Also, in July last year, through an agreement with the 'Impact VC Network,' composed of eight leading domestic venture capital firms highly interested in impact investment and social venture ecosystem development, a foundation was laid to connect follow-up investments for companies invested in by the 'Seongdong Impact Venture Investment Association.' In October last year, at the 'Seoul Forest Social Venture EXPO,' the first-ever impact fund formation announcement ceremony nationwide was held, dedicating efforts to support social venture growth and activate investment.

Unique Good Company, which won the grand prize at Seongdong-gu's '4th Social Venture Innovation Competition' last year, is a social venture established in 2017 that develops and operates the mission-type experiential game platform 'Real World.'

In particular, in this investment, along with Seongdong-gu, 'The Wells Investment,' a participant in the 'Impact VC Network,' jointly invested, greatly recognizing the company's value and growth potential.

Reharvest, established in 2019, is a company that upcycles food by-products to manufacture food raw materials (alternative wheat flour).

Focusing on 'food upcycling,' which is gaining attention for eco-friendliness and meaningful consumption, it is a social venture actively employing vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, creating social value and possessing growth potential.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, “Among support projects specialized for social ventures, this impact investment has discovered companies with great growth potential and value, achieving practical investment attraction.” He added, “We hope this will serve as a momentum for startups, growth, investment, and support to gain more vitality and for the impact investment and social venture ecosystem to be continuously activated.”

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