Shinhan Financial Group Signs MOU with Atri Holdings to Foster Deep Tech Unicorns

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Shinhan Financial Group's GIB Business Division announced on the 13th that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ETRI Holdings to establish an organic technology commercialization investment cooperation system and to discover and nurture promising companies.

ETRI Holdings is the first public institution specialized investment organization in technology commercialization, 100% funded by the government-funded research institute Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). Since its launch in 2010, it has focused on investing in the commercialization of information and communication technology (ICT) convergence technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT), aiming to foster unicorn companies through deep-tech (original technology) commercialization investments. To date, it has supported the establishment of a total of 56 companies, and recently, through the IPOs of invested companies on the KOSDAQ, it is building a virtuous cycle ecosystem for public technology commercialization investment.

The MOU was conducted in a non-face-to-face manner, and through this agreement, both parties agreed to actively cooperate in ▲ discovering, investing in, and supporting the growth of deep-tech public technology commercialization companies ▲ providing follow-up investment support from Shinhan Financial Group to companies invested by ETRI Holdings ▲ supporting the growth of promising deep-tech companies into global unicorn companies ▲ jointly forming and operating investment associations and funds.

A Shinhan Financial Group official stated, "Through this MOU, we plan to actively foster unicorn companies based on deep-tech by combining the technology commercialization capabilities of the ICT-specialized research institute Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute with the capital market utilization capabilities of Shinhan Financial Group's GIB business division."

Meanwhile, Shinhan Financial launched the 'Shinhan Innovation Finance Promotion Committee' in March 2019 and has been conducting direct and indirect investments totaling about 2.1 trillion KRW over five years to support the innovative growth of domestic startups, ventures, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Recently, it has been promoting the 'Shinhan N.E.O. Project,' a financial New Deal policy to actively support the 'Korean New Deal Policy,' and is making efforts to discover new national economic growth engines in the 'post-COVID-19' era with three core directions: 'financial support for new growth industries,' 'leading new digital finance,' and 'creating a new growth ecosystem.'