Domestic Startups Presenting Before Global VCs from 13 Countries... 'K-Global Star IR' Held

8 Startups Introduce Their Companies in English
Followed by Investment Consultations with Investors

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that on the second day of the ‘K-Global Venture Capital (VC) Summit 2024,’ it held the ‘K-Global Star Company Presentation (IR)’ on the 11th at SKY31 in Seoul.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is briefing on the key contents of 'ComeUp 2024' at the Global Startup Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 25th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

The event was attended by global venture investors, domestic corporate venture capital (CVC) firms, and investment stakeholders. K-Global Star is a program by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support global investment attraction for domestic startups aiming to expand overseas, selecting eight startups recommended by domestic VCs.

The eight startups are advanced technology companies centered on artificial intelligence (AI), including Beyond Honeycomb, Retinal, and Weplo. Each presented their company introduction, technology, and developed products in English for eight minutes.

The investment attraction presentation was attended by major investors such as Pavilion, the investment subsidiary of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek; Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital of Saudi Aramco; Japan’s Global Brain; China’s CMBI; France’s Eurazeo; and global investors from 13 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, UAE, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. Over 130 people participated, including 30 domestic CVCs and investment stakeholders such as Korea GS Ventures and CJ Investment. After the presentations, in-depth investment consultations were held between startups and investors regarding investment attraction and local market entry.

Since 2013, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been operating the ‘Global Fund,’ where the Korea Fund of Funds invests in excellent funds managed by overseas VCs to support Korean startups’ investment attraction and global expansion. So far, the Korea Fund of Funds has invested 700.6 billion KRW, forming funds worth 11.7 trillion KRW across 67 funds worldwide, and Korea Investment has invested approximately 1.2 trillion KRW in 629 companies. The ministry plans to expand the Global Fund to 15 trillion KRW by 2027.

Especially this year, the ministry invested a record 150 billion KRW in the Global Fund, selecting 15 excellent VCs from the United States, Japan, China, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom as new global fund managers. Since the inauguration of Minister Oh Young-joo, the ministry has been focusing its capabilities on global investment cooperation.

From January to October this year, 54 Korean startups attracted investments totaling 111.8 billion KRW through the Global Fund. By region, 29 Korean startups raised 24.7 billion KRW through U.S. funds; 11 startups raised 32.2 billion KRW through ASEAN region funds; 9 startups raised 37.2 billion KRW through Chinese funds; and 5 startups raised 17.7 billion KRW through European and Middle Eastern funds.

Kim Bong-deok, Director of Venture Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The ministry will actively support startups’ investment attraction and global expansion through the ‘Global Fund’ and ‘K-Global Star’ programs so that K-startups can grow as leaders in the global market. Next year, we will further expand the scale of the event to coincide with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Korea, fully supporting it to become a genuine platform for exchange and cooperation among global investors worldwide.”