On the 19th, the Korea Bio Association announced on the 20th that it held the 15th Smart Start, a follow-up investment attraction briefing session for bio companies hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and jointly organized by the Bio Association and the New Industry Investment Organization Council.
At the 15th Smart Start follow-up investment attraction briefing session for bio companies held on the 19th, Hwang Mansun, chairman of the New Industry Investment Organization Council, is speaking. [Photo by Korea Bio Association]
Smart Start is a briefing session conducted as part of the startup full-cycle platform "Venture Playground," operated by the Bio Association to create a virtuous investment ecosystem in the bio venture industry. It supports the commercialization of the bio industry by holding IR programs for each investment round to foster the bio industry.
At this briefing session, companies hoping to attract follow-up investments such as Series B, C, or preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) gave IR presentations for investment attraction and reviewed trends in the listing of bio companies on the KOSDAQ market as well as global bio healthcare industry trends.
The association, which had mainly supported matching with domestic financial investors (FIs), launched the "Venture Playground" platform in October last year, expanding participants to include major domestic bio financial investors (VCs), domestic and overseas strategic investors (SIs), and overseas investors, operating programs tailored to companies' needs.
The event was attended by Song Young-jin, Director of the Bio Convergence Industry Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Lee Seung-gyu, Vice Chairman of the Korea Bio Association; and Hwang Man-soon, Chairman of the New Industry Investment Organization Council. To expand investment attraction opportunities for domestic bio companies, numerous bio sector expert reviewers from domestic specialized VCs such as Korea Investment Partners, Sunup Investment, KB Investment, Kiwoom Investment, LSK Investment, POSCO Technology Investment, Solidus Investment, SJ Investment Partners, Yuanta Investment, and Smilegate Investment participated. Strategic investors (SIs) in the domestic bio sector such as Ildong Holdings, Anguk Pharm, and Binex also participated.
In the first part, an expert session was held on IPO trends and institutional reform topics, with presentations by the Korea Exchange. Following this, in the second part, IR presentations were given by eight companies in the bio and healthcare sectors. A total of nine consultations, where intentions for face-to-face meetings between major investors and bio venture companies were confirmed, were conducted either in advance or on-site.
The association stated that among the companies that participated in the investment attraction IR program, there have been four cases of securing investment attraction results so far this year, with total investment funds reaching 23 billion KRW. It also added that four companies are currently in discussions and reviews for investment.
Son Ji-ho, Executive Director of the Industry Support Headquarters at the Korea Bio Association, said, "We invite not only domestic VCs but also SIs to hold investment attraction IR programs for each investment stage twice a year, in the first and second halves, and support steady investment attraction results. We will actively support not only investment attraction achievements but also help bio startups find cooperative partners for growth."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
