"A good content Start - Up is a corporations with core intellectual property (IP). When that aligns with a technology trend, it triggers explosive growth. Three years ago it was the Metaverse, and this year it is artificial intelligence (AI). How well they are leveraging technology is what draws investors' attention."
On the 16th at the Gyeonggi Content Korea Lab in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, Director Tak Yong-seok of the Gyeonggi Content Agency (hereafter GCA) explained the conditions of a "Start - Up that attracts investment" this way. Joining CJ in 1998, Tak spent 20 years in the industry, served as head of the Gwangju Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency, and has led GCA since 2023. Saying that "devotion and expertise" are his life philosophy, he expressed his ambition as director to "play a role in supplying funds where they are truly needed through real policy."
GCA is Gyeonggi Province's content industry support agency established in 2001. Gyeonggi Province's content industry is worth about 29 trillion won, or 19% of the national content market, ranking second nationwide after Seoul. Centered on four regional hubs located east, west, south and north in the province, GCA discovers Start - Ups tailored to local characteristics and supports comprehensive programs such as expert mentoring, investment linkage, and market expansion. From 2024 to date, it has contributed 7.4 billion won of Gyeonggi funds to form a total fund of 108 billion won.
The first project Director Tak overhauled after taking office was the "Gyeonggi Level-up Program." The "Gyeonggi Level-up Program" is a staged investment-attraction support program designed to foster the growth of content Start - Ups in Gyeonggi Province. After Tak took office in July 2023, he formed a corporate development oversight team and reorganized the scattered investment programs at GCA into four stages by growth: "Level-up Seed," "Level-up Pre-A," "Virtual Convergence Seed," and "Virtual Convergence Pre-A."
"Public institutions were already running investment programs big and small, but most were event-like programs. From the perspective of Start - Ups as demand-side players, they would struggle to get to an IR event only to be scolded and never see it through to investment. Building a structure that can help from the demand side until it works, and where corporations can meet many investors at any time. The Gyeonggi Level-up Program started from these two points."
Support methods were also differentiated by stage, because investors focus on different points when concentrating on Start - Ups at each growth phase. GCA supports PoC (Proof of Concept) for early-stage corporations and provides PMF (Product Market Fit) consulting for growth corporations.
"At the seed stage, we place emphasis on evaluating, along with the business model, how much conviction and focus the founder demonstrates about the business. Once entering the growth stage, we concentrate on how visible the potential for sales and operating profit is. That said, entrepreneurial spirit is a factor investors commonly value at every stage. The public role of connecting potential to actual growth is extremely important."
To avoid stopping at event-like programs and to run a structured investment program, GCA secured "financial independence." Based on Gyeonggi Province contributions and proceeds from prior investment performance, it created funds in cooperation with venture capital (VC). It also introduced an indirect support method through Gyeonggi Level-up Invest Partners (G-VIP), which connects VCs or accelerators (AC) willing to invest in content corporations.
"It is hard even to participate in the investment screening process for early investments, and it is also difficult to closely monitor the business after investment, so investors have a low probability of generating results. That is why both the private and public sectors cannot help but be passive about seed investment. To fill this gap, GCA decided to form funds directly and move into investment."
As a result of these efforts, GCA succeeded in attracting a total of 27.1 billion won in investment to 35 corporations in 2024. Notably, Studio Metak, an advanced-technology-based IP content producer, raised 3 billion won in a Series A round this year. The agency's standing also rose significantly, recently earning the top "A" grade in Gyeonggi Province's public institution management evaluation. It has shown steady growth, rising from a "B" grade in 2023, Tak's first year in office, to an "A" grade in 2024.
Director Tak said he plans to focus on strengthening content businesses and fostering the AI industry during the remainder of his term. "In the past, a government used cultural prosperity as a slogan, but this is the first time a national leap project has been proposed based on the content industry. In line with the new government's Korea Initiative slogan, we will identify and strengthen projects that maximize Gyeonggi Province's strengths."
"First, we will elevate Gyeonggi Province into Asia's studio hub, like Hollywood in California. We will also develop the 'Korea AI Content Awards' into a more global program to spread AI in the content field, and newly push ahead with the Culture-Tech Innovation Fund initiative to foster Gyeonggi Province as a center of content creation and consumption."