According to a report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 16th, Son Tae-jang, chairman of Mistletoe and younger brother of Son Jeong-ui, chairman of SoftBank Group, is raising an investment fund that will secure $130 million (approximately 177.5 billion KRW) from major Korean conglomerates.
According to the report, Son Tae-jang and three founders of the Singapore venture capital (VC) firm 'The Edge' are creating a fund to discover and invest in artificial intelligence (AI) startups. So far, they have signed investment contracts totaling $130 million with SoftBank Group, SK Networks, LG Electronics, Hanwha Financial Division, and others, with plans to secure the funds by the end of this month. They intend to raise additional capital from companies in Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other countries to increase the fund size to $200 million by the end of the year.
The fund will have a 10-year operation period and plans to focus investments on mid-sized startups aiming to enter the Asian market based on AI technology. Specifically, it will seek investment opportunities in seven sectors: cloud services, healthcare, agriculture and fisheries, fintech, semiconductors, robotics, and new materials. The investment size is expected to range from $5 million to $20 million per company, with plans to invest in a total of 10 to 20 companies.
Nikkei reported, "The Edge's network with 80 venture capital firms worldwide will be utilized to discover investment targets," and added, "Startups will also be encouraged to launch new businesses or proceed with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with the large corporations that have invested in the fund."
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