Vertex Growth Secures Foreign VC Investment from Korea Venture Investment Corporation and Embarks on the Globalisation of Korean Tech Start-ups
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KOREA, SEOUL, 18 June 2021 – Vertex Growth Fund (“Vertex Growth”) is pleased to announce that its second fund has secured a commitment of USD15 Million from Korea Venture Investment Corporation's (“KVIC”) Foreign VC Investment Fund (“FVCIF”) initiative.
Vertex Growth is committed to invest in South Korea’s start-up ecosystem, especially in Korea-based companies and foreign businesses owned by Korean founders. By leveraging Vertex’s global network, Vertex Growth will also extend value creation capabilities and provide business development support to promising growth-stage Korean start-ups and help expand their businesses in Asia and scale globally.
With a primary focus in Asia, Vertex Growth was established in 2019 by Vertex Holdings to avail support to some of the most compelling growth stage opportunities emerging from Vertex’s five early-stage fund portfolios. With this partnership, Vertex Growth aims to expand its presence in Korea by developing strategic partnerships with key players of the Korean VC market, and investing in Korean start-ups with disruptive and scalable products while supporting their global expansion.
Kee Lock CHUA, Chairman of Vertex Growth and CEO of Vertex Holdings said, “Vertex Growth has always been committed to supporting innovative start-ups that have the capability to achieve optimum market potential through Vertex’s deep engagement and strategic outlook. We’re thrilled to partner with KVIC whose investment in Vertex Growth is a testament to our capabilities in mentoring start-ups to help them advance their globalisation journey. With a strong focus on value creation beyond capital deployment, Vertex Growth is confident to write a new success story in the Korean start-up landscape, and build a new breed of disruptive and resilient businesses.”
Tapping on the rise of growth stage investment opportunities in Asia
In its latest report with Preqin, Vertex shares insights into the Asia-Pacific VC market and identifies Japan and Korea as markets that are gaining global prominence. This can be attributed to factors such as the opening up of their innovation ecosystems to global capital and talent, and encouraging domestic start-ups to go global. Vertex has ventured into Northeast Asia in recent years, starting with Japan given the market prowess and financial heft of leading organizations that have a keen interest in open innovation and digital transformation. Vertex has built meaningful partnerships with many globally-oriented Japanese organisations, and the team is now rolling out this successful model in Korea.
South Korea has a leading innovation ecosystem globally, powered by its tech talent base and a vibrant entrepreneurial culture. Amply supported by forward-looking government policies and an evolved private sector, the country is becoming a growth engine for next-generation digital technologies.
This partnership comes at an opportune time as venture activity in Asia Pacific has seen an uptick in Q12021[1] following a dip in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. With its large population and strong entrepreneurial culture, Vertex Growth sees opportunities to strengthen the start-up ecosystem in the region, and support companies that are at the cusp of growth. The fund has identified smart manufacturing, ICT and tech-enabled services such as fintech to be sectors of interest in Korea.
Established in 2005 as an unparalleled VC Fund of Funds under the government agency, Korea Venture Investment Corp. (KVIC) was conceptualised with the aim of stimulating investment for the growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups.
“One of the core values at KVIC is to drive innovation and build global champions out of disruptive local businesses. With Vertex Growth Fund’s robust track record of accelerating growth amongst promising start-ups, we believe there’s synergy between the two funds, and this collaboration will help strengthen entrepreneurial excellence within Korea. Together, we see making a difference in the local start-up ecosystem, and positioning Korea firmly on the global stage of innovation and technological advancement,” said Mingu LEE, Regional Director at KVIC.
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