South Korea targets KRW16 trillion venture investment by 2027

Seoul, South Korea—The government announced on Wednesday that South Korea plans to expand its venture investment market to KRW16 trillion (US$12.1 billion) by 2027, up from KRW10.9 trillion (US$8.25 billion) in 2022, as part of a strategy to become a global venture investment powerhouse.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups revealed plans to establish a global investment attraction fund called 'K-VCC' in Singapore. 

The fund aims to facilitate the inflow of foreign capital into the domestic venture market. 

The ministry targets raising US$200 million through this fund by 2027.

Key points of the plan include:

• Increasing global investment attraction from KRW200 billion (US$151 million) in 2022 to KRW1 trillion (US$757 million) by 2027
• Creating a KRW15 trillion (US$11.4 billion) global fund by 2027, adding KRW1 trillion (US$757 million) annually
• Expanding participation of domestic financial institutions and large corporations in venture investments
• Applying risk-weight exceptions to policy-purpose venture funds to encourage bank investments
• Establishing a KRW1 trillion (US$757 million) venture fund dedicated to non-metropolitan areas by 2027
• Relaxing regulations on Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) for external fundraising and overseas investments

The government also plans to improve the investment environment by easing venture investment company regulations and separating investment and management tasks, aligning with global standards.

"The government will create a world-class dynamic venture investment ecosystem to ensure our startups can secure a competitive edge against global companies,"

said Oh Young-ju, Minister of SMEs and Startups.

These measures aim to position South Korea as one of the top four global venture investment powerhouses, capitalizing on the country's average annual growth of 16% in the venture investment market over the past 15 years.

US$1=KRW1,321.20