Israel’s most active investment platform, OurCrowd, was chosen by the South Korean government to co-manage an investment fund of $80 million for startups in both countries, OurCrowd announced on Wednesday.
The target for the fund is $80 million, over half of which has already been raised by the Korean partners, NH Venture Investment and K-Growth.
With $48 million secured, OurCrowd is working to raise remaining funds from its 240 thousand registered global investors, the company announced.
An innovative future
The bilateral fund will invest in between 25 and 30 startups in both Israel and Korea, particularly projects focused on technology, such as robotics, automotive, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and digihealth, OurCrowd said.
The fund is backed by NH Venture Investment, the venture arm of NongHyup Financial Group, which has total assets of $400b, and Korea Growth Investment Corporation (K-Growth), a Korean government agency that invests policy funds to achieve strategic objectives on behalf of the Korean Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy (MOTIE). K-Growth has pledged $32 million to the fund, and NH has committed $16 million.
NH and OurCrowd will co-manage the fund as general partners.
"The establishment of the Israel-Korea bilateral fund with the backing of the South Korean government is wonderful news for Israeli high-tech,” said Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd.
Medved said South Korea wished to use Israeli innovation to secure its position in pioneering industries.
He also said that Israeli DeepTech companies would receive direct access to the South Korean industrial conglomerates, allowing for global collaborations, especially those in the Asia-Pacific region.
Medved also said South Korean startups would benefit from exposure to Israel’s connections to leading venture capital investors and entrepreneurs, helping them drive their technological progress forward.
Kim Hyun Jin, CEO of NH Venture Investment, said, “K-Growth has established this fund to support the global expansion of Korean companies through open innovations with global high-tech enterprises such as innovative Israeli companies.”
"OurCrowd’s extensive Israeli and Global network [will] collaborate with Korean high-tech startups to grow together through this fund.“
South Korea's has the 13th largest economy in the world, with an increasing GDP. It is also the 5th largest manufacturing power in the world after China, the United States, Japan, and Germany, according to OurCrowd.
After Israel, South Korea is the second biggest global investor in Research and Development as a percentage of GDP.
This partnership comes despite recent news of the South Korean NGO People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), the Asian Dignity Initiatives, and South Korean lawmakers filing crimes against humanity charges for seven Israeli officials.