National Growth Fund Draws Strong Demand as Money Flows to AI, Chips

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an "AI-based customized news recommendation and summary service" developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six customized news items by reader type.

1. Kurly Q1 Operating Profit Up 13-Fold, Interest Coverage Ratio Rises to 3.31x... Green Light for IPO

- Key Summary: Kurly posted consolidated revenue of 745.7 billion won (up 28.4% year-on-year) and operating profit of 24.2 billion won in the first quarter of this year, achieving its highest-ever quarterly performance. Its interest coverage ratio surged from 0.23x a year earlier to 3.31x, significantly improving financial stability, while its inventory turnover rate also rose to 24.4 times, confirming operational efficiency. Meanwhile, through a 33 billion won third-party allotment paid-in capital increase by Naver, it was recognized with a corporate value of 2.8 trillion won, and the combined stake of Kurly and Naver rose to 11.9%, showing an improved governance structure. In addition, it incorporated AI solutions firm Wonji Labs as a wholly owned subsidiary to enhance operational efficiency and secure mid- to long-term growth, accelerating its renewed push for an initial public offering (IPO).

2. Yoon Jin-sik: "Startups' Role Grows More Important in AI-Driven Transformation"... Asia's Startup Festival Opens in Seoul

- Key Summary: NextRise 2026, Asia's largest startup expo, opened at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 18th and 19th, with about 540 domestic and international startups showcasing innovative technologies in fields such as AI, bio, defense, aerospace, energy, and fintech. Hanwha Aerospace (012450) participated as the first comprehensive domestic defense company, operating a joint booth with 21 partner firms and planning to find ventures and startups on-site to join 12 projects. In addition, global AI big tech companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, Palantir, and Perplexity gathered at the largest scale ever, seeking collaboration opportunities with domestic startups. Meanwhile, France, this year's guest country of honor, took part with flagship firms such as Renault, Veolia, and Stellantis along with some 20 startups, creating a venue for cooperation between the Korean and French startup ecosystems.

3. National Growth Fund Managers Draw Bank Capital... Fund Quota Closes Early

- Key Summary: Eleven investment firms selected as first-round managers for indirect investment in the National Growth Fund closed most of their blind fund limited partner (LP) recruitment early, exceeding their target of forming sub-funds worth 3.9 trillion won. This came as the Financial Services Commission (FSC) lowered the risk weight (RW) for National Growth Fund contributions from the previous 400% to 100%, easing capital soundness burdens and prompting banks to participate en masse as limited partners. As a result, fund expansion has continued, with Skylake Equity Partners raising its target fundraising amount to 1 trillion won, while some managers reportedly completed their limited partner recruitment within two to three hours on the day of selection. The second-round recruitment drew 65 applicants for a competition ratio of 6.5 to 1, and with a mandatory investment ratio set for AI and semiconductor small and mid-sized enterprises, an expansion of funding to advanced startups is expected.

4. Busan Jumps 10 Spots in Startup City Rankings in One Year

- Key Summary: In the "2026 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER 2026)" published by global startup ecosystem assessment agency Startup Genome, Busan entered the 70s among the world's top 100 emerging startup cities, rising 10 spots in one year. The value of Busan's startup ecosystem has more than tripled to $3 billion over the past four years, while startup investment grew 39% last year alone, and the scale of exits such as initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) surged more than 400% over the past two years. This ranking rise resulted from aggressive startup fostering policies, including the establishment of the Busan Technology Startup Investment Agency—the nation's first dedicated startup organization—the formation of a 1.5 trillion won startup fund, and a strategy linking regional core industries with future technology industries. Meanwhile, Busan is pursuing a plan to simultaneously strengthen investment, talent, and global networks, aiming to enter the world's top 30 startup cities by 2030.

5. SP Chemicals, Once a Paint Seller, Enters Stealth Materials Market

- Key Summary: SP Chemicals completed a strategic equity investment (SI) in defense startup Flyer, entering the stealth materials and electromagnetic shielding markets. Flyer developed "Abroitex," an embroidery-based textile-type stealth material, and "Tems," a carbon nano-based transparent electromagnetic shielding film, with Abroitex evaluated as advantageous for application in drones and unmanned aircraft due to its lightness and flexibility. According to Mordor Intelligence, the aerospace and defense materials market is projected to grow from $29.21 billion (about 44 trillion won) in 2026 to $35.03 billion in 2031. In addition, KCC (002380) is participating in the development of aerospace coatings, while Noroo Paint (090350) is carrying out a national project worth 44.1 billion won in total project costs with Korean Air (003490), reflecting a full-fledged shift toward defense materials in the coatings industry.

6. From Technological Self-Reliance to Big Tech Cooperation... Government Accelerates AI Safety Net

- Key Summary: The Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) will pursue a new "AI Safety and Trust Technology Development Project" worth 300 billion won over eight years from 2027 to 2034. The project aims to secure core technologies that block hallucinations and malicious misuse of AI models such as large language models (LLMs) and to build a national-level safety evaluation system. Accordingly, MSIT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Anthropic on the 18th in the fields of AI safety and cybersecurity, agreeing to cooperate on assessing AI model misuse risks in the Korean-language context, red-team evaluations of autonomous AI agents, and sharing cyber threat intelligence. Meanwhile, the AI Safety Institute also signed an MOU with OpenAI on the 17th, cooperating on sharing safety evaluation methodologies and benchmarks for high-risk fields and establishing internationally accepted evaluation systems.