Suwon City Selects Company to Manage 100 Billion Won 'Corporate Saebit Fund'

Suwon City Hall

The city of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province is recruiting general partners (management companies) to establish and operate the 'Suwon Enterprise Saebit Fund' worth 100 billion KRW until the 14th of next month.

The Suwon Enterprise Saebit Fund is designed to invest in startups, ventures, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have technological capabilities but lack financial resources to grow. The fund will be established with a total of 100 billion KRW, including 10 billion KRW invested by Suwon City. The operation period is over 8 years, consisting of 4 years of investment and 4 years of management and recovery.

The selected management company will operate the 100 billion KRW fund for 8 years and must invest at least 20 billion KRW, which is double the 10 billion KRW invested by Suwon City, in companies located in the Suwon area.

Suwon City's investment sectors include five fields: early-stage startups, materials, parts and equipment, bio, and others. Management companies can apply for up to two sectors. Applications through additional increases to already established or operating funds (Multi-Closing) are not allowed.

Suwon City plans to give preferential treatment in selecting management companies if they propose higher investment conditions for Suwon-based companies (at least double the city’s investment), are selected by the Korea Fund of Funds or Korea Growth Investment Corporation, or submit a commitment letter to invest at least 40% of the fund amount as of the application deadline.

A Suwon City official stated, "With the establishment of the Suwon Enterprise Saebit Fund, we can invest more than 20 billion KRW in Suwon companies, which will be a great support for them," adding, "We will actively assist companies discovered by the Suwon Enterprise Saebit Fund to grow into unicorn companies."

Previously, Suwon City took proactive steps to support companies by signing a 'Cooperation Support Agreement' with four financial institutions, the first of its kind nationwide, to provide generous loans totaling 300 billion KRW to local SMEs facing difficulties.