Daegu City Raises 17 Billion KRW for 3rd 'ABB Industrial Fund' ... Daegu Bank and Korea Venture Investment Participate

Goal to Raise 100 Billion KRW Within 4 Years

On the 8th, Daegu City held a business agreement ceremony at the Sangyeok Office of Daegu City Hall with Korea Venture Investment, DGB Daegu Bank, Hi Investment & Securities, Hi Investment Partners, and Daegu Digital Innovation Promotion Agency to foster the Daegu ABB industry through the ‘Establishment and Operation of a Digital Manufacturing Innovation Venture Fund and Activation of Local Investment.’

This agreement ceremony was organized to promote efficient fund establishment and operation following the selection of the ‘DGB Digital Manufacturing Innovation Fund’ in the first regular investment project of Korea Venture Investment in 2023, jointly planned and applied for by Daegu City and Hi Investment Partners. Furthermore, it aims to lead broad mutual cooperation at the DGB Financial Group level to revitalize the ‘Daegu local investment ecosystem.’

Sangyeok Government Complex, Daegu City.

Hi Investment Partners will be responsible for fund management and plans to further activate the Daegu branch (located in the Daegu Bank building in Chimsan-dong), DGB Daegu Bank will support capital investment, and Hi Investment & Securities will support the IPOs, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and follow-up direct investments of the invested companies, which is expected to further invigorate the local investment ecosystem.

The ‘DGB Digital Manufacturing Innovation Fund’ (worth 17 billion KRW) is the third Daegu ABB industry fund established in the region, following the ‘ABB Growth Fund’ (23.4 billion KRW) established in the second half of 2022 and the ‘ABB Venture Fund’ (12 billion KRW) established in April 2023.

As a result, a total of 52.4 billion KRW worth of ABB industry funds are being operated in Daegu, with a total of 20 billion KRW planned to be invested in ABB-related small and venture companies located in Daegu. Among these, 3.8 billion KRW has been invested in four local companies so far through the operation of the first ABB Growth Fund.

The fund contributions are 2 billion KRW from Daegu City, 10 billion KRW from the Korea Venture Investment’s mother fund, 1 billion KRW from Hi Investment Partners, and 4 billion KRW from others. Daegu City plans to contribute 500 million KRW annually over four years starting in 2023, and 4 billion KRW, which is 200% of the 2 billion KRW contributed by Daegu City, is expected to be invested in ABB-related small and venture companies located in Daegu.

Daegu City aims to establish ABB industry funds worth more than 100 billion KRW by 2026 and plans to add about one new fund in the second half of the year.

This gradual expansion of fund establishment and improvement of the poor local investment infrastructure are expected to greatly help resolve funding difficulties for local ABB companies, support continuous corporate growth, and attract promising ABB companies from outside the region.

Lee Jong-hwa, Deputy Mayor of Economy, said, “We hope that the companies receiving investments will grow into global companies through continuous revitalization of the local investment ecosystem,” and added, “We will do our best to achieve regional economic development centered on the ABB industry for the next 50 years.”

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