Ministry of Environment Invests 63.2 Billion KRW in Future Environmental Industry Investment Fund

On the 29th, the Ministry of Environment announced that it has invested 63.25 billion KRW in the 'Future Environmental Industry Investment Fund.'

This fund is a public-private joint fund established to foster small and venture companies in the environmental sector that contribute to carbon neutrality and green transition. Since 2017, a total of 10 funds amounting to 324 billion KRW have been created. So far, approximately 200 billion KRW has been invested in 84 companies.

This year, the Ministry of Environment’s investment amounts to 63.25 billion KRW, a 26.5% increase from last year’s 50 billion KRW. It plans to raise over 27.35 billion KRW from the private sector, creating a fund exceeding 90.6 billion KRW.

Starting this year, the Ministry will invest funds according to growth stages. The investment sectors include three categories: ▲ the ‘Green Startup Fund’ supporting green sprout companies (youth and startup companies), ▲ the ‘Commercialization Fund’ supporting green companies in the growth stage, and ▲ the ‘Scale-up Fund’ supporting green companies with high potential to become prospective unicorns.

A new primary investment target has been added: mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of companies in the environmental sector. Since M&A is an important means to promote corporate growth and innovation, this aims to encourage the expansion and competitiveness of promising green companies.

Additionally, to encourage swift investment execution, operating companies proposing to increase the primary investment ratio by more than 10 percentage points will receive selection bonus points. Operating companies that achieve annual investment targets will have their benchmark return rate reduced by 0.5 percentage points.

Jang Ki-bok, Director of Green Transition Policy at the Ministry of Environment, emphasized, “Through tailored investments according to the growth stages of green companies, we expect to nurture prospective green unicorn companies and further contribute to the expansion of our green industry’s overseas advancement.”

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