The Korean government(The Ministry of SMEs and Startups) has announced the selection of fund management companies to manage the Global Fund in 2024.
This year’s investment project is unprecedented, with a scale of KRW 150 billion. The project attracted applications from 80 companies, including top-tier venture capital firms, resulting in the highest-ever competition rate of approximately 8:1. This high level of interest and participation is attributed to the recent recognition of the technological capabilities of Korean startups and significant interest from foreign investors.
A total of 15 funds were selected for the Global Fund investment project. KRW 150 billion was invested from a Fund of Funds, and over KRW 1.2 trillion in new global funds are expected to be raised. The selected venture capital firms include five from the United States, three from Singapore, two from the United Kingdom, two from Japan, two from China (including Hong Kong), and one from the UAE.
In response to interest from Korean venture capital firms in participating in the Global Fund, the Ministry has established a new Co-GP track for the joint operation of funds with both foreign and domestic venture capital firms. Through this track, three domestic venture capital firms were also selected. The rising interest and recognition of the Global Fund have attracted participation from major global investment firms such as Third Prime Capital (USA), Amadeus (UK), Global Brain (Japan), and CICC (China).
To date, the Global Fund has invested KRW 1.2 trillion in 598 domestic companies, a 1.7 times increase from the initial investment of KRW 0.7 trillion from a Fund of Funds. As most funds are still under management, the investment amount is expected to grow further. Numerous success stories, such as Viva Republica, Woowa Brothers, Daangn Market, and Moloco, have emerged from investments by the Global Fund. Recently, startups such as GoPizza, MyRealTrip, and Elice have received investments from the Global Fund and are actively expanding globally with significant follow-up investments.
| Region | Fund | |
| 1 | Japan | Shinhan-GB FutureFlow Fund(Shinhan Venture Investment (KOR), Global Brain (JPN)) |
| 2 | China | CICC Ascent Growth Fund I(Ascent Capital (KOR), CICC (CHN)) |
| 3 | UAE | VentureSouq IMM MENA Asia Fund I(IMM Investment (KOR), VentureSouq (UAE)) |
| 4 | USA | Third Prime Alpha Fund Ⅳ(Third Prime) |
| 5 | USA | igniteXL Ventures Fund Ⅱ(igniteXL) |
| 6 | USA | ACVC Partners Fund Ⅱ(ACVC) |
| 7 | USA | Patron Fund Ⅱ(Patron) |
| 8 | USA | Nautilus Venture Partners Fund Ⅲ(Nautilus Ventures) |
| 9 | UK | Amadeus VI Technology(Amadeus Capital) |
| 10 | UK | Mosaic Ventures III(Mosaic Ventures) |
| 11 | Japan | DGDV Fund III(DG Daiwa Ventures) |
| 12 | Hongkong | Access Ventures III(Access Ventures) |
| 13 | Singapore | Lion X Digital Innovation Fund(Lion X Ventures) |
| 14 | Singapore | K3 Aquarius Fund IV(K3 Ventures) |
| 15 | Singapore | Qualgro Fund 3 (Qualgro Partners) |