The Public Growth Fund, the Korea Development Bank, Mirae Asset, and others in a public-private partnership will invest a total of 600 billion won in Rebellions, a domestic artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor fabless startup.
The Financial Services Commission said on the 26th that it held the Public Growth Fund investment management committee and selected Rebellions as the first direct investment target of the "K-Nvidia fostering" project.
According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund will directly invest 250 billion won in Rebellions' mass production of a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and development of next-generation AI chips. The investment will take the form of purchasing Rebellions' redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS). RCPS are preferred shares that simultaneously grant the right to have the investment returned under certain conditions and the right to convert into common shares. It is one of the representative methods of venture investment.
Including a 50 billion won investment through the Korea Development Bank and 300 billion won in private investment from Mirae Asset and others, a total of 600 billion won will be injected into Rebellions.
The funds will be used to mass-produce "Rebel 100," a large-scale data center NPU developed by Rebellions last year, and to further develop next-generation AI chips. Rebellions presented a funding need of about 600 billion won for the scheduled mass production of Rebel 100 in Jul. and the development of follow-up products.
The government plans to create a success story in which a domestic unicorn grows into a decacorn (an unlisted startup valued at $1 billion or more) through investment in Rebellions.
An official at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said, "As this project carries out the first direct investment by the Public Growth Fund, we expect it will have the effect of jointly shouldering the technological uncertainties of the target corporations and actively sharing the risks of venture companies."