Daejeon City to Establish '(Tentative Name) Daejeon Investment Finance' Next Year

Daejeon City will establish and operate the '(tentative name) Daejeon Investment Finance' to foster key regional strategic industries. Daejeon Investment Finance is scheduled to open in June next year.

On the 25th, Daejeon City announced the strategy for establishing Daejeon Investment Finance and a corporate finance-centered bank based on the service results from Daejeon Sejong Institute, (Foundation) Venture Capital Town, and Iwai Consulting.

First, Daejeon Investment Finance will be established to secure and supply long-term and stable investment funds, playing a role in driving the innovative growth of key regional strategic industries, deep tech, and startups.

Daejeon City plans to invest an initial capital of 50 billion KRW with 100% equity and raise 100 billion KRW in private funds as a mother fund.

The main tasks of Daejeon Investment Finance include investment and loans (special contributions).

Investment is divided into direct and indirect investments.

Direct investment support will be provided to promising companies with high technological capabilities and key strategic companies in bio-health, defense, nano-semiconductors, and aerospace industries.

Indirect funds will focus on enhancing the competitiveness of local private venture capital and promoting a virtuous cycle and activation of the venture investment ecosystem, following the existing fund investment format.

Loans will be introduced gradually, but in the initial phase, they are designed to collaborate with the Korea Technology Finance Corporation to ensure substantial financial support to local companies.

The operating funds of Daejeon Investment Finance are planned to expand to 289.5 billion KRW over five years until 2028 after establishment, and up to 500 billion KRW by 2030.

Daejeon City will proceed with the establishment procedures of Daejeon Investment Finance aiming for its opening in June next year.

On this day, Daejeon City also presented a blueprint to establish a ‘venture company-specialized professional bank (corporate finance-centered bank) headquartered in Daejeon’ by 2026.

The big picture that Daejeon City envisions is to form a financial linkage between Daejeon Investment Finance and the corporate finance-centered bank, and based on this, to group them into a financial holding company with various subsidiaries, expanding Daejeon into a venture finance cluster in the central region.

The corporate finance-centered bank is planned to be established as a ‘regional industrial bank’ in nature, and the discussion was intensified as President Yoon Seok-yeol proposed it as a regional development pledge during the presidential election period.

Daejeon City plans to follow procedures for bank establishment based on the service results, including related law amendments, persuading financial authorities, and recruiting strategic investors.

Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon said, “Along with the creation of industrial complexes and attracting companies, the last puzzle piece that will allow Daejeon to fully demonstrate its infrastructure and competitiveness will be a financial institution,” adding, “It is a difficult path that no one has challenged before, but we will strive to write the first success story.”

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