Ministry of SMEs and Startups Invests 270 Billion KRW in 4th Mother Fund for Youth Startups and Regional New Deal

610 Billion KRW Venture Fund Established... Continuing the Momentum of the Second Venture Boom

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The government will establish a venture fund worth 610 billion KRW in the second half of the year. It will be a matching method between the mother fund's capital contribution and private investment funds. The mother fund will contribute 270 billion KRW as seed money. This contribution was made possible by the second supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly on the 24th.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 29th that it plans to establish a venture fund worth a total of 610 billion KRW by contributing 270 billion KRW from the mother fund. The raised funds will be focused on investments in youth, scale-up, New Deal, and global sectors.

This fourth mother fund consists of ΔYouth Startup Fund (60 billion KRW) ΔScale-up (100 billion KRW) ΔRegional New Deal Venture Fund (40 billion KRW) ΔGlobal (70 billion KRW).

First, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will contribute 60 billion KRW from the mother fund to the 'Youth Startup Fund,' which invests in youth startup companies, to establish a fund worth 100 billion KRW. The Youth Startup Fund is a fund that focuses on investing in startups and venture companies where the CEO is young or where more than 50% of the executives and employees are young. With the arrival of the second venture boom and the rising enthusiasm for startups among youth, the mother fund aims to faithfully support the startups of young people with innovative ideas.

Additionally, to nurture unicorn companies among innovative companies entering the growth stage, 100 billion KRW will be contributed to the 'Scale-up Fund' to establish an additional fund worth 250 billion KRW. Another 40 billion KRW will be additionally contributed to the 'Regional New Deal Venture Fund,' which focuses on regional innovative venture companies, to establish mother funds in four regions.

Overview of the 4th Regular Investment by Sector of the Original Fund. Table = Ministry of SMEs and Startups

In particular, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to further support domestic startups' overseas expansion and growth into global unicorn companies by additionally establishing an 'Overseas Venture Capital Global Fund' using 70 billion KRW from the mother fund, which enables excellent overseas venture capitals (VCs) to invest in domestic SMEs and venture companies. Previously, the global fund supported follow-up investments for leading domestic startups such as Woowa Brothers, Kurly, and Zigbang, providing a foundation for their growth into unicorns.

The operating companies for this fourth capital contribution project will be finally selected in September after the first review, including document screening and on-site inspection, and the second review, including operating company proposal presentations. The global fund plans to separately announce a schedule targeting overseas VCs in August.

Proposals for the capital contribution project announcement can be submitted online through the 'Venture Investment Comprehensive Information System website' from 10 a.m. on the 18th to 2 p.m. on the 25th of next month.

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