On the 24th, the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups announced that it held the inauguration ceremony for the Startup Korea Fund in collaboration with investment institutions involved.
The "Startup Korea Fund" is a fund created by large corporations, mid-sized corporations, small corporations, financial institutions, and the government to invest primarily in deep tech startups that challenge the global market. It is characterized by enhanced incentives provided by the government, such as priority loss compensation, additional points for collaborative growth evaluations, and government awards.
The fund is planned to be established at around 600 billion won. This year, 30 private investors have committed more than 250 billion won, with the government matching over 170 billion won, bringing the total private-public investment to approximately 420 billion won.
This year, the Startup Korea Fund will expand its role as a "public-private joint venture investment platform." Ten new investors, including COSMAX and Spoon Labs, who have no experience in venture investment associations, will participate, while 20 existing companies with prior investment experience have significantly increased their investment scale.
Additionally, a new area of "open innovation" will be established to promote strategic collaboration between large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and ventures and startups through venture investment. A fund exceeding 200 billion won will be created for strategic fields like bio and semiconductors, including the K-Beauty Fund launched on the 10th.
The "Startup Korea Fund" plans to publicly announce its investment projects in May, starting with today's inauguration ceremony. Furthermore, from the second half of the year, it will proceed with the substantial formation of the fund, including the selection of management companies.
Minister Oh Youngju noted, "The Startup Korea Fund will expand its role as a platform to provide open innovation opportunities among members of ecosystems in the deep tech field while encouraging more corporations and financial institutions to participate in the venture investment market, thereby supporting our leap towards becoming a global deep tech powerhouse."