LG Uplus and Korea Venture Investment Collaborate to Discover K-Unicorns

Cooperation for Revitalizing the Startup Ecosystem

Koo Hyung-chul, Head of Global Growth Division at Korea Venture Investment (left), and Park Jong-wook, CSO (Executive Vice President) of LG Uplus, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement at the LG Uplus Yongsan office building. Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] LG Uplus announced on the 29th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Korea Venture Investment Corp. (KVIC) to revitalize the domestic startup ecosystem.

Korea Venture Investment Corp. is a fund-of-funds investment management institution established in 2005 under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups based on the Special Measures Act on the Promotion of Venture Businesses. In addition to managing Korea’s fund-of-funds, it carries out special purpose investment projects such as overseas investments, direct investments in promising domestic startups, and support projects for collaboration with large corporations.

Through this MOU, both parties plan to promote ecosystem revitalization through fostering and investing in domestic startups by ▲ sharing information and supporting growth of promising domestic venture companies ▲ supporting the formation of venture funds in the ICT sector ▲ collaborating on KVIC’s K-Unicorn Project program.

Korea Venture Investment Corp. will provide information on promising domestic venture companies focusing on LG Uplus’s key interest industries such as ICT technologies including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), data, digital advertising, green new deal sectors like smart buildings and mobility, and content production. LG Uplus will review the possibility of cooperation and offer opportunities for business and technology partnerships or PoC (Proof of Concept) projects.

Korea Venture Investment Corp. has agreed to actively cooperate in startup investments and revitalizing the venture ecosystem through fund utilization. For example, if LG Uplus wishes to establish a venture fund, KVIC will use the “Mentor Matching Fund” system, which matches LG Uplus’s investment amount one-to-one through the fund-of-funds.

LG Uplus will cooperate with the “K-Unicorn Project” promoted by Korea Venture Investment Corp., a project aimed at discovering and nurturing unicorn companies with a corporate value of over 1 trillion won. For startups nurtured by KVIC that have potential for collaboration with LG Uplus, IR (Investor Relations) opportunities will be provided and investment reviews will be conducted.

Gu Hyeong-cheol, Head of Global Growth Division at Korea Venture Investment Corp., said, “This is a time when cooperation between K-venture companies and large corporations is more important than ever for Korea to become a venture powerhouse,” adding, “We expect this cooperation between the two institutions to be a great opportunity to enhance national competitiveness.”

Park Jong-wook, CSO (Executive Vice President) of LG Uplus, said, “Through cooperation with Korea Venture Investment Corp., we have laid the groundwork not only for discovering promising startups but also for expanding networks within the venture ecosystem,” and added, “We will concretize and continuously manage cooperative tasks between the two companies to use this as an opportunity to further foster and invest in startups.”