Signite Partners Adds Two New Funds... Surpasses 100 Billion KRW in Assets Under Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Signite Partners, the corporate venture capital (CVC) of Shinsegae Group, announced on the 1st that it has newly established two funds in the second half of this year, achieving an asset under management of 105.6 billion KRW.

Signite Partners formed the 50 billion KRW-scale ‘Smart Shinsegae Signite Investment Association’ last December and has been actively investing. Last month, it consecutively established the 30 billion KRW-scale ‘Smart Shinsegae Focus Investment Association’ and the 18.2 billion KRW-scale ‘Shinsegae Wellness Investment Association.’

The ‘Smart Shinsegae Focus Investment Association’ was formed through the Korean Fund of Funds’ ad hoc recruitment in April this year. Signite Partners submitted a letter of intent to invest in a 25 billion KRW-scale focus fund and was finally selected in September this year, holding the fund formation general meeting on September 17.

This fund includes investments from the Korean Fund of Funds, Shinsegae, Shinsegae Central City, and Duol. The fund plans to invest in sectors such as retail tech, food tech, and bio-healthcare.

The ‘Shinsegae Wellness Investment Association’ is a fund established on the 29th of last month with investments from the Agricultural Policy Insurance Finance Service (hereafter, Nonggeumwon) and Shinsegae International. Signite Partners was finally selected as the entrusted management company in Nonggeumwon’s first half ad hoc investment project. Combining the investment amounts of 9 billion KRW each from Nonggeumwon and Shinsegae International with the management company’s investment, a total of 18.2 billion KRW-scale fund was formed. The fund plans to focus on discovering promising startups innovating with technology in various areas within smart agriculture.

The first fund, ‘Smart Shinsegae Signite Investment Association,’ was formed last year with a total scale of 50 billion KRW and has invested in startups with high growth potential such as Cookat, Speclipse, Positive Hotel, Peaches, and Super Makers.

Lim Jeongmin, Chief Fund Manager and Head of Investment at Signite Partners, said, “We plan to actively utilize the various resources of Shinsegae Group to support the growth of promising startups,” adding, “We will create an industrial ecosystem where large corporations and startups coexist and develop together.”

Meanwhile, besides funds in the form of investment associations, Signite Partners also invested last year in Southeast Asia’s leading super app Grab and fashion shopping app Ably using its own capital.