$215 million venture fund to be formed by U.S. and Korean investors

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young reads the president's welcoming remarks in his stead at the Korea-U.S. Startup Summit held at Pier 17, New York, on Wednesday. [MINISTRY OF SMES AND STARTUPS]

A $215 million fund will be established by Korean and U.S venture capitalists to help Korean start-ups go global, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Thursday.

The Korea Venture Investment Corp (KVIC) and three U.S. venture capitals — RPS Ventures, Millennium Technology Value Partners and Applied Ventures — signed a deal to co-establish the fund during the Korea-U.S. Startup Summit held in New York.

Startup Minister Lee Young was joined for the congratulatory ceremony for the event hosted by Google Vice President Karan Bhatia, Oracle’s Senior Vice President Dave Rosenberg, Naver Cloud CEO Park Won-ki and Hyundai Motor President Kong Young-woon.

Prior to the ceremony, Lee met with tech companies, including Google and Oracle, to discuss the role of small companies in new technologies, especially in blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).

Google’s Bhatia asked for the Korean government to help start-ups maximize their flexibility and come up with bright ideas, and Lee said that the ministry will seek to enhance the cooperation between the government, large companies and start-ups, according to the startup ministry.

Oracle will co-establish a start-up nurturing program next year and allow local companies to grow by using the U.S. company’s programs and expertise to grow their own businesses.

“This event marks the start of the government and startups entering the global stage together based on the publicly expressed confidence of the government,” Lee said. “It would be an opportunity for major players of the Korean and American start-up and venture ecosystems to come together to closely cooperate for the growth of K-start-ups.”

The two-day event was held at Pier 17 in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday as a get-together for start-ups, venture capitalists and large companies.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]