Venture Investment of 1 Trillion Won 'Gyeongbuk G-star Fund' Established... Achieves 96 Billion Won This Year

Gyeongbuk Province announced on the 1st that it will establish the ‘Gyeongbuk G-star Fund’ to overcome the investment winter caused by the global economic slowdown and high interest rates, and to revitalize the investment ecosystem.

The ‘Gyeongbuk G-star Fund’ refers to all venture investment funds invested by Gyeongbuk Province and is being created to expand investment opportunities for small and venture companies in the national advanced strategic industry sectors in Gyeongbuk.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office

Gyeongbuk Province aims to raise more than 500 billion KRW by 2028 and over 1 trillion KRW by 2034, based on the year 2024.

As the first step in the plan to raise a 1 trillion KRW fund, Gyeongbuk Province will raise more than 125 billion KRW this year to provide tailored investments at each growth stage for innovative venture companies in the G-star Valley. Through this, it will revitalize the venture investment ecosystem in the Gyeongbuk region. Two funds jointly invested with 6 billion KRW by Gyeongbuk Province were selected in February this year in the first regular call for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ mother fund investment.

The selected funds include the regional startup early-stage fund applied for by Daegyeong Technology Holdings & Y&Archer and the regional innovation venture fund jointly applied for by Gyeongbuk and Jeonnam, totaling 35.9 billion KRW including 20.9 billion KRW from the mother fund.

The regional innovation venture fund jointly applied for by Gyeongbuk and Jeonnam operates with 17.9 billion KRW from the mother fund and 29.9 billion KRW from the main fund, and will form a sub-fund of 90 billion KRW.

With this selection, a total of about 96 billion KRW has been raised, achieving 77% of this year’s target of 125 billion KRW.

Furthermore, if the regional industry revitalization R&D fund jointly applied for by Gyeongbuk Province to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in March is selected, it is expected to exceed this year’s target.

Gyeongbuk Province has invested 30 billion KRW in six funds, raising and operating 155.5 billion KRW, and has invested 67.2 billion KRW in 139 innovative venture companies in Gyeongbuk, playing a role as a catalyst for promoting investment.

Declaring a “war against low birth rates,” Gyeongbuk Province plans to support startup companies to grow into unicorn companies by establishing startup incubation infrastructure, research and development, and global expansion support measures tailored to their life cycle.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, emphasized, “We will focus on intensively supporting the activation of the startup innovation investment ecosystem so that anyone with innovative technology can start a business or conduct research and development by achieving the goal of raising 1 trillion KRW for the Gyeongbuk G-star Fund ahead of schedule.”