Son Jeong-ui Invests 170 Billion KRW in Domestic AI Asset Management Firm 'Craft'

Series C Investment Secured and Strategic Partnership Established

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Craft Technologies (hereinafter ‘Craft’) announced on the 11th that it has signed a Series C investment and strategic partnership worth approximately 170 billion KRW with Japan’s SoftBank Group.

This investment is aimed at the continuous expansion of Craft’s business in the U.S. and Asia, and at the same time, the two companies will carry out a strategic project to integrate Craft’s AI models into SoftBank’s portfolio management of publicly traded stocks.

Craft, a Korea-based AI asset management solution company, provides AI portfolio signals capable of generating excess returns based on proprietary deep learning algorithms. Craft’s technological capabilities are proven through the performance of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, it possesses a B2B AI solution that covers the entire asset management process, including data processing, investment strategy exploration, order execution, investment analysis, and reporting.

Currently, Kentaro Matsui, Managing Partner of SoftBank Vision Fund, commented on the contract, saying, “Craft’s solution, which has demonstrated and proven its proprietary AI technology in the U.S. ETF market, can revolutionize the way global financial institutions manage assets,” and added, “As the AI ecosystem expands, SoftBank is pleased to join Craft in participating in the transformation of asset management worldwide.”

Previously, Craft received investments of 10.6 billion KRW and 15 billion KRW in Series A and B rounds, respectively. In the Series C round, it secured 170 billion KRW investment solely from SoftBank. Craft plans to use the investment funds to expand its global offices, recruit personnel, and develop its AI asset management platform. As part of this, it is currently developing a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that enables the design, creation, and unmanned operation of financial products.

Hyung-sik Kim, CEO of Craft, stated, “If SoftBank’s investment capabilities, which are at the forefront of unlisted startup investments, combine with Craft’s AI technology-based management capabilities, it will create great synergy,” and added, “This synergy will be the starting point to fundamentally transform the asset management industry worth 100 trillion USD (approximately 12 quadrillion KRW).”

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