The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 1st that at the Ulsan Jongha Innovation Center, where the "Ulsan Future Growth Fund" formation ceremony was held, a venture mother fund focusing on investment in Ulsan-region corporations has completed recruiting limited partners and will begin full-scale operations.
The Ulsan Future Growth Fund is the second regional growth fund to be created this year, following North Jeolla. Based on 35 billion won in mother fund investment, it will be formed as a 50 billion won mother fund with participation from Ulsan Metropolitan City, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries(329180), Korea Zinc(010130), BNK Kyongnam Bank, NongHyup Bank, and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), including local corporations, financial institutions, and universities.
The fund will determine investment areas through an operating committee joined by Korea Venture Investment Corporation, Ulsan City, and key limited partners. It plans to launch a sub-fund commitment program at the end of this month and create more than 63 billion won in venture funds.
As Ulsan City was selected for the "startup city development project" in Apr., it also plans to set up a separate startup city specialized fund to foster startup corporations centered on Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).
At the event, the fund formation ceremony was accompanied by the Ulsan Venture Investment Forum. Attendees reviewed the status of Ulsan's venture ecosystem and discussed growth strategies. This was followed by an investor relations (IR) session and investment consultation meetings for promising local corporations.
Mok Seung-hwan, head of the Startup and Venture Innovation Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "Ulsan is an industrial city that has led industrialization and a leading domestic manufacturing hub, including automobiles, shipbuilding, and petrochemicals," adding, "Through the 'Ulsan Future Growth Fund,' the ministry will support Ulsan in combining the potential of an 'industrial city' with the innovative capacity of a 'startup city' to grow."