Gyeongbuk Province Opens Era of 100 Billion Won SME Innovation Venture Fund

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[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 29th that it will actively promote the establishment of a new 100 billion KRW scale small and medium venture fund this year to overcome the prolonged economic recession and sluggish domestic demand caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

In this regard, on the 28th, Gyeongbuk Province formed the 'Technology Innovation Specialized G&G Fund No.1,' an innovative small and medium venture fund of Gyeongbuk, at the Smilegate Investment Co., Ltd. conference room.

This fund is jointly invested by Gyeongsangbuk-do, POSCO Technology Investment Co., Ltd., Smilegate Investment Co., Ltd., Korea Growth Finance, NongHyup Bank Co., Ltd., Daegu Bank Co., Ltd., Woori Private Equity Asset Management Co., Ltd., and Gyeonggi-do. Participating companies and institutions will actively invest by discovering promising small and medium venture companies with excellent technological capabilities within Gyeongbuk Province and promising small and medium venture companies scheduled to relocate to the province.

Gyeongsangbuk-do held a nationwide public offering in July to select capable and large-scale fund management companies for the fund establishment. As a result, POSCO Technology Investment Co., Ltd. and Smilegate Investment Co., Ltd. were selected as co-managers.

The investment scale by participating companies and institutions is as follows: Korea Growth Finance 30 billion KRW, Gyeongbuk Province 6 billion KRW, POSCO Technology Investment 9.5 billion KRW, Smilegate Investment 5 billion KRW, Gyeonggi-do 2.5 billion KRW, NongHyup 3 billion KRW, Daegu Bank 1.5 billion KRW, Woori Private Equity Asset Management 5 billion KRW, Smilegate Holdings 5 billion KRW, and Pohang University of Science and Technology 0.5 billion KRW. The specialized venture capital companies POSCO Technology Investment and Smilegate Investment will manage the fund amounting to 68 billion KRW (the largest scale among local governments) over eight years starting this year.

With the establishment of this fund, Gyeongbuk Province will open the era of a 100 billion KRW venture fund. Along with the previously established Creative Economy Fund Support No.2 (12 billion KRW) and K& Local Win-Win Job Creation Investment Association (16.1 billion KRW), the Gyeongbuk Happy Company Innovation Venture Fund (68 billion KRW) will lead investments in promising small and medium venture companies in the future.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, stated, "By discovering and investing in promising small and medium venture companies within the province, we plan to reorganize the industrial structure from large corporations centered on manufacturing to small and medium venture companies, which are the growth engines of future leading industries, and make every effort to create jobs and revitalize the regional economy in Gyeongbuk Province."

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