The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) announced on October 1 that they held the "Second Joint Meet-Up for the Korean Growth Fund and National Growth Fund" at the Korea Growth Investment Corporation in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.
This event aimed to establish a "one team" system between the public and private sectors to organically link and supply funds from each fund, following the first meet-up held in June.
Attendees included Son Young-chae, head of the National Growth Fund Promotion Team at the FSC; Kim Bong-deok, director of venture policy at the MSS; Jang Sang-ik, CEO of Korea Growth Investment Corporation; Shin Hye-sook, vice president of the Korea Development Bank; Choi Cheol-hoon, vice president of Korea Venture Investment; Lee Jun-hee, vice president of the Korea Venture Capital Association; along with representatives from 33 companies managing the National Growth Fund and 8 managing the Korean Growth Fund, as well as 7 promising innovative companies.
During the meet-up, five outstanding technology companies nurtured through the Korean Growth Fund and two promising companies proposed by the FSC's Growth Company Discovery Council presented their current status and investment attraction plans.
A total of 42 firms participated, including 33 companies managing the indirect investment sector of the National Growth Fund and 8 managing the Korean Growth Fund.
Managers of the National Growth Fund expect to be introduced to promising companies nurtured by the Korean Growth Fund, while Korean Growth Fund managers seek opportunities to attract large investments for portfolio companies that have entered a growth stage, as well as to recover and reinvest funds.
Representatives from the seven participating companies introduced their core technologies and outlined plans for large-scale funding to scale up.
Jung Mu-kyung, CEO of Dinoticia, a participant in the AI sector, stated, "At a time when we are aiming for rapid growth based on LLM technology, the large-scale funding connection from the National Growth Fund will be a decisive moment to accelerate technology commercialization and global market entry. If we can secure follow-up funding at this meet-up, we aim to become a leading big tech company in the global AI market."
Participants agreed that venture companies need scale-up funding to move beyond initial growth stages and expand facilities and enter global markets.
Park Min-sik, executive director of Korea Investment Partners, remarked, "The establishment of a permanent support system for policy finance through this meet-up will be a great help to both investors and companies."
Following the joint meeting, a 1:1 private meet-up session was held for companies and investment institutions to engage in individual discussions.
Son Young-chae emphasized, "If the first event in June confirmed the potential for linking venture capital, this second meet-up is a step toward establishing a sustainable support system to ensure continuity in funding supply. We plan to regularize this event and explore thematic meet-ups based on on-site demand, such as AI, biotech, and regional innovation companies, to create an environment where companies in advanced strategic industries can receive continuous growth funding and advance to become big tech firms."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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