Korea Venture Investment Selects 10 Overseas VC Funds Through Global Fund

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Korea Venture Investment announced on the 8th that it has selected 10 overseas VC sub-funds through its Overseas Venture Capital (VC) Global Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Global Fund). Previously, Korea Venture Investment had announced plans for a 75 billion KRW scale global fund investment project through a public notice. A total of 27 overseas VC funds applied, and 10 sub-funds were selected through review.

With this selection, sub-funds worth at least 899.6 billion KRW (applying an exchange rate of 1 USD = 1,100 KRW) will be raised, which is 13 times the amount of the Global Fund's investment. In addition to the Global Fund's investment amount, this provides an opportunity for Korean small and medium-sized venture companies to receive investments from overseas VC sub-funds raised with private and government funds abroad, based on the judgment of the fund managers.

The selected fund managers include 5 companies from the United States, 1 from China, 2 from Singapore, 1 from Vietnam, and 1 from the UAE. Many leading overseas venture capital managers who have expressed their willingness to invest in Korean companies are included. The US VCs selected as overseas VC sub-fund managers are Whitestar Capital, Storm Ventures, GFT Ventures, BAM Ventures, and Strong Ventures, totaling 5 managers. The Global Fund investment amount is 27.5 billion KRW, and the sub-funds are expected to be raised to at least 541.2 billion KRW.

The Chinese VC selected is Northern Light Venture Capital. The Global Fund investment amount is 11 billion KRW, and the sub-fund is expected to be raised to at least 55 billion KRW. Southeast Asian VCs selected include Singapore-based Vertex Venture Management, Cento Ventures, and Vietnam-based Do Ventures. The Global Fund investment amount totals 28.6 billion KRW, and the sub-funds are expected to be raised to at least 253 billion KRW. The UAE VC selected is Shorooq VC Partners. The Global Fund investment amount is 1.65 billion KRW, and the sub-fund is expected to be raised to at least 50.4 billion KRW.

The Global Fund has been established since 2013 to support overseas investment attraction and expansion for domestic small and venture companies. Before this selection, the Global Fund invested a total of 377.6 billion KRW in 33 overseas VC sub-funds, raising funds worth 3.3641 trillion KRW, through which 367 Korean companies received investments totaling 719.4 billion KRW. The Korean companies that received investments have also attracted large-scale follow-up investments from famous overseas investors such as Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs.

A Korea Venture Investment official stated, "We hope this selection will be an opportunity for our companies, which are facing difficulties in attracting overseas investments due to COVID-19, to grow into global unicorn companies."

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