Ministry of SMEs and Startups Launches Full-Scale Drive to Foster AI Unicorns with 310 Billion KRW Korea Fund of Funds Investment

Venture Funds Worth Around 570 Billion KRW to Be Created

On July 10, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it will invest a total of 310 billion KRW through the second regular investment announcement of the Korea Fund of Funds. Through this, the ministry plans to create venture funds totaling approximately 570 billion KRW.

First, through the "Next Unicorn Project," which is reflected in the second supplementary budget, the ministry will actively foster AI and deep tech unicorns. The Next Unicorn Project is a dedicated program that provides large-scale, stage-specific investments to promising companies in the AI and deep tech sectors. In this investment initiative, a total of 300 billion KRW will be invested in the "Startup" and "Scale-up" categories, creating venture funds of over 550 billion KRW.

The "Startup" fund will support early-stage investments in startups founded by professionals in the AI and deep tech fields, while the "Scale-up" fund will provide scale-up investments of over 10 billion KRW per company to small and medium-sized enterprises in these sectors. In particular, the "Scale-up" fund will focus on investing in companies from the "Next Unicorn Pool," which are recommended as top-performing companies by public institutions among those participating in ministry-supported programs. This approach aims to connect the scale-up of outstanding companies nurtured through startup and venture support programs.

In the "Early-Stage Small" category, the ministry will invest 10 billion KRW to create a 16.7 billion KRW venture fund. Through the first regular investment initiative this year, the ministry invested a total of 99.5 billion KRW in the "Early-Stage" category, creating a 169.9 billion KRW venture fund. In this round, the ministry will select an additional early-stage small fund of 16.7 billion KRW, providing seed investments to early-stage startups that are currently facing difficulties in attracting funding.

Kim Bongdeok, Director of Venture Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "As the global competition for AI and deep tech technological leadership accelerates, it is crucial to dramatically expand AI and deep tech venture investments for domestic ventures and startups to grow into unicorns that lead the global market." He added, "Through the second supplementary budget this year, we have taken the first step with the Next Unicorn Project. We will swiftly proceed with the investment initiative to ensure rapid deployment of investments, and we will continue to expand the Korea Fund of Funds' investments in the AI and deep tech sectors going forward."