Saneun to Establish 101.1 Billion KRW 'Busan Future Growth Venture Fund'

Busan Future Growth Venture Fund Formation Ceremony Held
Establishing a Total 250 Billion KRW Venture Fund through 101.1 Billion KRW Mother Fund
Building a Complete Venture Ecosystem Support System with 'Direct Investment/Loans-Platform-Fund of Funds'
Expanding Investment Infrastructure in the Southeast Region, Providing New Momentum to Local Venture Companies

On the 25th, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) held a launch ceremony for the 'Busan Future Growth Venture Fund' at BEXCO in Busan, attended by key representatives including KDB Chairman Kang Seok-hoon, Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon, BNK Financial Group Chairman Bin Dae-in, Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) President Min Byung-joo, and Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC) Vice President Shin Sang-han.

The Busan Future Growth Venture Fund is a regionally specialized fund worth a record 101.1 billion KRW, jointly established by KDB as the main investor, Busan City, the Korea Fund of Funds, Busan Bank, and KIAT to promote balanced regional development and revitalize the local venture ecosystem. Korea Venture Investment Corporation has been selected as the fund of funds manager, aiming to form sub-funds exceeding 250 billion KRW.

Notably, this fund is structured into regional, metropolitan, and global leagues to organize the investment projects. Through the regional league, it plans to nurture excellent specialized investment institutions within the region, while the metropolitan and global leagues will promote the inflow of leading investment institutions into the Southeast region. By diversifying roles by league and providing tailored investment support according to the growth stages of companies, it offers a growth path for regional innovative companies to become unicorns locally.

The first-year investment project plan is scheduled to be announced by the end of June, with the selection process for sub-fund managers to take place in July. From the second half of this year, the fund will actively begin supplying venture capital to regional innovative companies.

Meanwhile, prior to the launch ceremony, KDB hosted the 'KDB V:Launch' event, a regional specialized startup IR platform, together with 'BUSAN Slush’D 2024,' attended by about 200 stakeholders from the venture ecosystem. BUSAN Slush’D is a local spin-off event of the famous Finnish startup event 'Slush.' Since launching 'KDB V:Launch' in May last year, KDB has held a total of nine sessions touring the Southeast region including Busan, Ulsan, and Changwon, supporting 30 innovative companies from the region in IR activities, of which nine companies successfully raised a total of 109.4 billion KRW in investment funds (including 17.2 billion KRW from KDB).

KDB Chairman Kang Seok-hoon stated, “Through the formation of this fund, KDB has established a complete support system for the Southeast venture ecosystem, linking direct investment and financing, platforms, and fund of funds.” He added, “By expanding investment infrastructure in the Southeast region and providing new growth momentum to local venture companies, this will greatly contribute to the economic growth of the Southeast region and the re-acceleration of the Republic of Korea’s economy.”