Bio Association Supporting Investment Attraction for Bio Companies... "Cumulative Investment of 324.8 Billion Won"

IR Program 'Venture Playground'
Bio Company Investment Briefing 'Smart Start' Held

The Korea Bio Association is taking the lead in revitalizing the bio-industry ecosystem and investment through its IR program.

The scene of the 14th Smart Start event held at the Korea Exchange on the 26th. [Photo by Korea Bio Association]

According to the Bio Association on the 27th, the association has been operating an IR program since 2016 that matches venture companies at early and follow-up stages with bio-specialized investors. So far, more than 160 companies have conducted investor IR, and 34 companies have secured a total investment of 324.8 billion KRW. The association explained that this has helped solve the funding shortage problem for bio companies. Additionally, through 'Bio Cube' for promoting startups, there have been 10 new startups and 5 cases of startup investment attraction achievements.

To support companies at different growth stages, the association has launched a platform called 'Venture Playground' to increase the scale of support. While the bio company investment programs previously operated by the association mainly involved financial investors (FI) such as venture capital (VC), Venture Playground includes domestic and international strategic investors (SI) such as large and mid-sized bio companies, companies from other industries seeking to enter the bio sector, global financial investors, and overseas fund managers.

On the Venture Playground platform, the association provides full-cycle support programs including ▲Bio Cube (bio startup education) ▲Customized Mentoring (strengthening investment attraction capabilities) ▲Golden Seed Challenge (early-stage investment support) ▲Smart Start (follow-up investment support) ▲Listing Support (linked with Korea Exchange).

Meanwhile, on the 26th, the association held Smart Start (follow-up stage company IR) at the Korea Exchange, where IR presentations for bio companies’ investment attraction were conducted, and trends in KOSDAQ market listings and the global bio healthcare industry were discussed. On that day, IR presentations were made by eight companies in the bio and healthcare sectors. Simultaneously, a total of 12 investment consultations took place between major domestic venture investors, strategic investors, and bio venture companies.

Lee Seung-gyu, Vice Chairman of the Korea Bio Association, stated, "Not only investment reviewers but also strategic investors will continue to expand their participation as collaborative partners in the annual investment attraction IR events. We will support bio startups in finding collaborative partners to grow by facilitating face-to-face meetings between the two parties."

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