The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 20th that at the launch ceremony for the "Jeonbuk regional growth fund" held at Lahan Hotel Jeonju, the Jeonbuk venture mother fund, which focuses on investing in Jeonbuk State, completed recruiting limited partners and will begin full-scale operations.
The "regional growth fund" is a regional mother fund that serves as a regional investment platform and is created and run jointly by the local community, local governments, and the mother fund. Aiming to establish at least one in each of the 14 non-capital regions, it plans to supply more than 2 trillion won in mother funds over five years, starting with 450 billion won this year.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) selected five regions—Daegu-North Gyeongsang, South Jeolla-Gwangju, Jeonbuk, Daejeon, and Ulsan—through the "2026 regional growth fund participating local governments recruitment notice" in January. Among them, with the active participation of the local community centered on Jeonbuk State, the first "regional growth fund" in Jeonbuk will be formed at a scale of 100 billion won.
The "Jeonbuk regional growth fund" will have a total of 17 institutions participating, with 60 billion won from the mother fund serving as seed money. It is characterized by the participation of a diverse range of local community members, including Jeonbuk State, Iksan, Jeongeup, Gimje, Jeonbuk Bank, VINATech, and Wonkwang University—spanning banks, corporations, and universities in the region—and Hyundai Motor Group, NongHyup Bank, and Hana Bank will also participate to help develop the Jeonbuk venture ecosystem.
The Jeonbuk regional growth fund will finalize investment areas through an operating committee made up of Korea Venture Investment Corporation, local governments, and major limited partners, and from September will begin sub-fund commitments to create sub-funds totaling 180 billion won.
At the event, there were also an investor relations (IR) session by promising Jeonbuk corporations, one-on-one investment consultations, and networking between investors such as large venture capital (VC) firms from the capital region and local corporations.
First Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "The Jeonbuk regional growth fund is Jeonbuk's first investment platform, launched through the combined will of the province's universities, banks, senior corporations, and residents," adding, "Starting with the Jeonbuk fund, the ministry will establish regional growth funds without a hitch and foster ventures and startups as regional growth engines."