S. Korea MSS Unveils KRW 60B Won Matching Fund

Seoul, South Korea - The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced Thursday the "Next-generation Unicorn Fund," a financing program designed to provide KRW 60 billion (US$40.5 million) per eligible technology company.

The Korea Venture Investment Corp. detailed the fund's operational structure during an industry roundtable on long-term and scale-up investments held in Seoul.

Under a public-private matching framework, the fund targets growth-stage companies in sectors including artificial intelligence and deep technology.

The capital structure requires a private venture capital firm to make an initial investment of at least KRW 20 billion (US$13.5 million) and recommend the enterprise.

Following a joint evaluation, the state-backed Fund of Funds provides a KRW 20 billion (US$13.5 million) matching investment, and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation issues a KRW 20 billion (US$13.5 million) investment-linked guarantee.

During the session, industry executives reported on previous Fund of Funds allocations.

Woori Venture Partners CEO Chang Kyu Kim said that scale-up investments helped biotech firm Illimis Therapeutics expand physically to Boston.

BOS Semiconductors CEO Jaehong Park said that receiving KRW 21.7 billion (US$14.6 million) from the Fund of Funds improved the company's credibility and helped secure subsequent capital raises.

Roh Yong-seok, first vice minister of the ministry, said the government intends to expand long-term, scale-up investments through the Fund of Funds to attract private capital into the venture ecosystem.