DAEJEON — Daejeon's venture and startup investment ecosystem is set to strengthen further.
The city said it held a launch ceremony for the Daejeon D-Growth Fund on the 1st at the headquarters of Daejeon Startup Park, attended by about 100 people including Daejeon Mayor Huh Tae-jung, officials from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Korea Venture Investment Corp., contributing financial institutions and local company representatives.
The Daejeon D-Growth Fund took shape after the city was selected for the SMEs ministry's regional growth fund competition, a program designed to spread venture investment beyond the Seoul metropolitan area. With 35 billion won from the government's fund of funds as seed money, KAIST, Hana Bank, NH NongHyup Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea and local companies contributed additional capital, bringing the total to 54.3 billion won.
Korea Venture Investment Corp. will manage the fund. It will channel the research and development base of universities including KAIST and government-funded research institutes into actual investments, concentrating on promising startups and venture firms in Daejeon's five strategic industries: defense, including robotics and drones, semiconductors, bio, artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
Building on this, the city plans to form sub-funds worth more than 78 billion won, centered on early-stage startups, startup-city specialization and strategic industries. It aims to draw in venture capital firms from the Seoul area and local accelerators to significantly expand regional investment resources, and will work with fund managers to continuously monitor investment activity.
By linking this fund with the 204.8 billion won Daejeon D-Leap Fund created in January this year, the city has completed what it calls a full-cycle tailored investment system that supplies capital at each stage of corporate growth, from early startup to scale-up.
"The Daejeon D-Growth Fund will drive corporate growth and regional investment activity, and build a virtuous cycle leading to job creation and vitality in the local economy," Mayor Huh said.
At an investor relations session held alongside the launch ceremony, promising local companies presented their technologies and growth potential to investment firms in a bid to attract funding.
