"Death Valley" and Scaling Up Support Product
IBK Venture Loan Plays a Key Role in Listing
IBK Industrial Bank of Korea announced on November 17 that it had assisted bio equipment company Curiosis in its KOSDAQ listing through the IBK Venture Loan program, a financial product designed to support startups facing the “death valley” period.
Curiosis, which supplies laboratory automation solutions essential for new drug development and cell therapy production, attracted significant investor attention by achieving a “double-double” (a fourfold increase from its IPO price) early on its first day of trading on November 13. The company is recognized as a promising enterprise in the sector.
The venture loan, launched by IBK Industrial Bank of Korea in January 2023, is a hybrid product combining investment and lending.
It provides low-interest loans to startups that have already secured investment from venture capital institutions. The bank utilizes warrants attached to bonds with warrants (BW) to share in the company’s future value appreciation.
Since its launch, the venture loan program has supported 209 companies with a total of 260 billion won.
IBK Industrial Bank of Korea was the first in the Korean financial sector to introduce a Silicon Valley-style venture loan. The purpose is to help promising venture companies with strong technological capabilities-but lacking sufficient financial performance or collateral-overcome the “death valley” and achieve growth by providing them with access to capital.
Curiosis was also in urgent need of operating funds. When it first received the IBK venture loan in 2023, the company was pursuing global market entry and establishing mass production systems.
IBK Industrial Bank of Korea stated that Curiosis’s listing is a representative success case for the venture loan program and that the bank will continue to actively support the growth of companies like Curiosis in the future.
An official from IBK Industrial Bank of Korea said, “It is significant that IBK Industrial Bank of Korea played a substantial role in Curiosis’s scaling up by supplying timely funding through the venture loan program. We will continue to actively support innovative venture companies facing financial difficulties to help them overcome crises and achieve growth.”
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