Venture Industry News

[3/15 Venture Industry News]
*I'm waiting at the airport to go to Singapore… I have nothing to do, so I'll replace it with news from the venture industry instead of the new investment trend that I can't do on the weekend… I'll organize the news in Singapore after work hard. New investment and listing will come back home on the 30th

*No. 1... Let me promote it. Autonomous driving business will start at the end of this year at Grab headquarters in Singapore. I'm going to Singapore to do that ㅠㅠ에이 For Singapore employees, A2G will supply a self-driving shuttle service to the subway station and the headquarters(?)

*No. 2.. IBK is going to start its own investment business with a maximum investment of 200 billion won. It's still in the review stage and the scale has not been determined yet. If it starts, will it not do 200 billion won? The force was different since the IBK Venture was made into 100 billion won, but now it's not only growth finance but also self-investment?

*No. 4.. I heard that local funds are active. Not only Daejeon, Gyeongbuk, Busan, but also Suwon and Gwangju? Even Daejeon even establishes a VC

*No. 5.. I heard that the organizers are doing a lot of direct investment these days, but the yield is low. APR is 300,000 won right now, Hana Securities bought for 45,000 won, POS Bank bought for 7,920 won, and Woojin Entech bought for 3,860 won, etc. Scary investment technology!

*No.7.. It's about Curly. It doesn't mean much because it's an unlisted personal transaction, but earlier this year, Curly was traded at an enterprise value of about 600 billion won. In addition, it recently returned to a large company that was going to acquire in 2018, and shareholders are tapping large companies to sell their old shares..

*Number 9.. CJ ENM's DIA TV, MCN No.1 is aggressively restructuring. The number of creators increased from 1,400 last year to 1,000 last year, and now it is 650. GAMST is gone and Lim Young-woong is gone.ㅠㅠ

*No.11.. They say funding from private equity funds is difficult. It's because pension funds are conservative, but that's very natural... They analyzed the paradox that funding is difficult even though private equity funds have excellent allocation performance. The reason is that the scale of stocks and bonds decreases due to poor performance, but private equity funds have good profits. The paradox of reducing the proportion of private equity funds to match the ratio from the perspective of asset allocation. If you understand the perspective of tactical asset allocation and strategic asset allocation... The big picture of asset allocation is set every five years (bonds, stocks, alternative investments-real estate, unlisted investments, etc.) and make fine adjustments in the meantime. The fixed proportion is maintained almost every five to 10 years. 10 won is reduced by -10% in the ratio of stocks:bonds:listed 3:5:2, and if only unlisted companies increase by 20%, the proportion becomes 2.7 won, 4.5 won, 2.4 won, and the ratio becomes 28%:47%:25%, and the ratio is broken, reducing the size of investment by 5% further from the replacement of 25%....

1) Autonomous 'Autonomous Driving Platform' Enters Southeast Asia
Autonomous driving company Autonomous A2G has confirmed the supply of self-driving buses to Grab, the largest car-sharing company in Southeast Asia, and its headquarters in Singapore. The main goal is to provide Grab with 15-seater self-driving buses that use the self-driving platform of Autonomous A2G. "The level 4 self-driving platform was used in Grab, and it was mainly because it secured software-powered platform technology for 10 models including electric tax cuts and buses," an Autonomous said. "We plan to target the global self-driving market starting with Singapore." With its own self-driving platform installed in global car maker electric buses, A2G will fully supply the fourth stage of fully autonomous buses without driver intervention starting in 2025. In the future, it will also supply self-driving buses produced by Autonomous.

2) IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, 'Drought Rain' Promotes VC and PE's Own Investment Project
IBK Industrial Bank of Korea is promoting its own investment projects for venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE). According to multiple investment industry insiders on the 12th, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea is preparing for its own investment projects for VC and PE this year, centering on indirect investment-related organizations. As it is still in the early stages of implementation, the specific timing, field, and amount of funds have not been determined, but it is said that it will be carried out around June this year with a scale of 100 billion won to 200 billion won. Currently, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea has managed its parent fund through Korea Growth Financial Investment Management. The parent fund managed through Korea Growth Financial Investment Management is ▲ IBK Innovation Solution Fund ▲ IBK New Deal Fund ▲ IBK Partnership Fund ▲ IBK Growth M&A Fund. Since last year, it has been operating its own "IBK Win-Win Leap Fund." This is to prevent small and medium-sized enterprises from entering the second death valley and to supply liquidity. IBK Industrial Bank has a strong will to serve as a priming water for the venture capital market from this year. By establishing IBK Venture Investment with capital of 100 billion won, it is accelerating the revitalization of the venture ecosystem. IBK Venture Investment has been splendid since its inception. More than 250 operating areas have voted to select eight operating areas. This remains the largest number of applicants in the history of domestic venture capital recruitment.

3) Korea Development Bank to Start Creating KRW 3 Trillion Innovative Growth Fund
The Korea Development Bank announced on the 12th that it has interposed an announcement to select a financial fund consignment management company for the innovation growth fund to create an additional 3 trillion won in innovation growth funds. The proposal will be closed on the 20th of this month, and a total of two companies will be selected in April, including one innovation industry parent fund (200 billion won) management company and one growth support parent fund (100 billion won) management company. The selected management company will manage this year's financial parent fund for the innovation growth fund and oversee investment projects, including the selection of a self-funded fund with the Korea Development Bank. The Korea Development Bank said, "After selecting a financial fund management company, we will select a self-funded consignment management company in the first half of the year and supply priming water to the shrinking venture capital market by creating a large fund worth 3 trillion won within this year."

4) Support for Major Industries and Start-ups in the Region… Funding in Local Governments is Active
According to local governments on the 14th, the North Gyeongsang provincial government has decided to create a regional revitalization investment fund to jointly foster promising local industries such as bio, energy, battery, semiconductor and defense industries with private companies. To this end, the provincial government recently held a meeting with representatives of seven financial asset management companies in Korea and proposed investment in the fund. The Daejeon Metropolitan Government is seeking to establish an investment finance company for the first time in the local government to revitalize local venture companies. It plans to operate 500 billion won (46 million U.S. dollars) by 2030 as "Daejeon Investment Finance" (tentative name) in the form of a corporation directly invested by local governments. The Incheon Metropolitan Government has decided to create a "Big Wave Fund" worth 150 billion won to foster the bio and aviation industries, which are its main industries. The Busan Metropolitan Government has decided to create a 1.2 trillion won-worth start-up fund to expand jobs for young people and provide a space for start-ups in the city center. Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province recently created the "Suwon Enterprise Saerbit Fund" worth 305.8 billion won, including 10 billion won in investment from the city. The fund focuses on supporting start-up companies that have excellent technology and growth potential but are lacking funds. Gwangju City, which has designated artificial intelligence (AI) as its future strategic industry and is intensively fostering local AI companies, has created the "Gwangju Artificial Intelligence Investment Fund" worth 117.9 billion won in January. The city previously raised 109.8 billion won from the same fund in 2020 and invested in 13 AI companies.

5) "IPO fees are not enough"... Organizers to invest in prospective listed companies
Securities firms have recently chosen companies to take charge of the listing and are making equity investments before listing. It is interpreted as a move to target "jackpot" after listing through direct investment as well as management fees. According to the electronic disclosure system of the Financial Supervisory Service on the 14th, five of the 10 companies listed so far this year, including Woojin NTech (457550), POS Bank (105760), EAT (418620), COSEM (360), and APR (278470), have made direct investments before listing. Participating in the capital increase, the company secured stakes through various methods such as acquiring redeemable convertible preferred stocks (RCPS) or convertible bonds (CB) and acquiring old shares. Hana Securities made direct investments in two of APR and POSBank that were listed this year. Hana Securities secured a 0.61% stake (based on pre-listing) in May 2022. The average acquisition price is 45,000 won, which is less than one-fifth of the public offering price of APR (250,000 won). APR's stock price on March 15 is 300,000 won. In November 2022, it invested about 1.9 billion won into POSBANK to secure a 3.08% stake at 7920 won per share. Currently, POSBANK's stock price is 14,000 won. KB Securities was also selected as the organizer of Woojin Entech's listing in March last year and made a direct investment worth 1 billion won. At that time, KB Securities, which participated in Woojin Entech's third-party allocation testament, secured a 3.62% stake in Woojin Entech at 3,860 won per share. Woojin Entech's stock price is 23,900 won. E8 invested by Hanwha Investment & Securities and Kossem invested by Kiwoom Securities are both maintaining higher prices than at the time of investment.

6) Agricultural Fund to Create 190 Billion Won Agri-Food Fund
The Agricultural Policy Insurance Finance Agency (Farm Fund), an investment management agency specializing in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Food Mortgage Fund, announced on the 13th that it will create more than 190 billion won worth of agri-food funds through regular investment projects this year. Through this investment project, the Korea Agricultural Research & Extension Services will select nine operators in the agri-food sector, including "Smart Agricultural Fund," "Food Tech Fund" and "Secondary Fund." In particular, this year, the "Food Tech Fund," which invests in 10 key areas of food technology, such as cell culture food production technology, will be created to a scale of 20 billion won, up more than 10 billion won from last year, to secure growth engines for the food industry. With the recent growth of the pet-related industry, "Pet Animal Fund," which invests in pet food and pet care, and "Traditional Stock Fund" will also be newly created with a scale of more than 10 billion won each to expand the base of the traditional liquor industry. In the fisheries sector, two operators will be selected by creating new "Blue Food Tech Fund" and "Secondary Fund." It will create a "Blue Food Tech Fund" that invests in fisheries management companies that create new added value through the development of the fisheries food industry, such as 3D printing and alternative sports, and the convergence and combination of new technologies. In addition, considering the market conditions in which it is difficult to recruit private investors, it will be established after selecting a subsidiary union