SBVA Invests 126.7 Billion Won Last Year... "This Year to Focus on AI and Deep-Tech Development"

Establishment of a 150 Billion Won Mega Fund Last Year
Overseas Investments Account for 35% of Total

SBVA announced on January 22 that it invested a total of 126.7 billion won in 17 companies over the past year. Among these, six were overseas companies, accounting for approximately 35% of all investment targets, reflecting an increased focus on global market-oriented investments.

SBVA made investments in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, content, commerce, and healthcare. In particular, the company built a portfolio encompassing future industries by investing in deep-tech areas such as satellite imagery AI, drone AI, quadrupedal robots, and vanadium ion batteries. The breakdown of investment by field was as follows: AI 44%, robotics 27%, commerce 11%, content 10%, and healthcare 4%. By region, the investment distribution was: Korea 54%, the United States 39%, and Japan 6%.

Key investees included Telepix and Eridu Corporation in the AI sector; Lion Robotics and Tacta Systems in the robotics sector; and Danggeun Market and Minease (Charan) in the commerce sector. Notably, SBVA acted as the lead investor in Lion Robotics and Tacta Systems, focusing on expanding major investment cases within the robotics industry.

In addition, SBVA established the 150 billion won "Alpha Korea Sovereign AI Fund" in December of last year, bringing its assets under management (AUM) to a total of 2.9 trillion won. The fund was formed after being selected as the general partner (GP) for the Scale-Up AI Convergence sector of the "Next Unicorn Project," an investment initiative led by Korea Venture Investment Corp. under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Leveraging years of investment experience and technological expertise, SBVA plans to continue making focused investments in AI and deep-tech startups.

In particular, SBVA aims to broaden the scope of "Sovereign AI" to help vitalize the domestic AI ecosystem. Building on successful investments and exits in AI startups such as Lunit, SuaLab, Tomocube, and Upstage, the company plans to establish an elite portfolio through a three-stage strategy: initial, growth, and follow-on investments. Furthermore, SBVA will support practical value enhancement for its portfolio companies by assisting with global market entry, connecting strategic partnerships, and facilitating overseas business-linked investments.

SBVA was also proactive in engaging with the global AI ecosystem last year. The company discussed the development of Korea's AI ecosystem during a business luncheon with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and participated as narrator and host for the SBS documentary "Next Sam Altman," providing insights into the technological and industrial strengths of the AI sector and the direction of innovation beyond large language models (LLMs). SBVA also invited Yann LeCun and Professor Kyunghyun Cho to its office for discussions with university students, serving as a bridge between global AI discourse and domestic talent.

Lee Junpyo, CEO of SBVA, stated, "2025 will be a year in which both preemptive investments and exit results in the AI and deep-tech sectors become visible. Based on this experience and track record, we were able to establish a fund focused on investing in AI startups that will lead Korea's technological sovereignty and future industries. We will continue to discover and nurture startups that represent the Sovereign AI era by leveraging our accumulated global investment capabilities."

Meanwhile, SBVA was established in Korea in 2000 as SoftBank Ventures Asia, a venture capital subsidiary under SoftBank Group, and has invested in a wide range of domestic and international startups, including early-stage investments in companies such as Lunit, Danggeun Market, and Semifive. In June 2023, SBVA became independent after being acquired by The Edgeof, a Singapore-based investment company jointly founded by Misato Chairman Son Taejang, SBVA CEO Lee Junpyo, and Misato CEO Atsushi Taira.