Naver on the 21st (local time) launched the Unicorn Growth Fund (UGF) in New Delhi, India, with Krafton and Mirae Asset, targeting up to 1 trillion won.
Naver said it held a roundtable in New Delhi, India, with Krafton and Mirae Asset to mark the launch of UGF. The event was arranged to introduce UGF to local corporations and venture capital (VC) firms in India on the occasion of President Lee Jae-myung's visit to India. Attendees included Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han, Krafton India head Son Hyun-il, Mirae Asset India Vice Chairman Swarup Mohanty, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment India CEO Puneet Kumar.
At the event, CEO Choi Soo-yeon said, "India is rapidly growing into the center of global digital innovation, expanding its AI industry ecosystem on the back of abundant IT talent and a dynamic startup scene," adding, "The UGF fund will invest in high-growth technology corporations focused on India, including AI, Fintech, and content, and will serve as a key foundation for creating strategic synergy by organically combining the three companies' core strengths."
Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han also said, "India is the world's fastest-expanding game market and a country emerging as a hub for content and technological innovation," adding, "Based on our experience contributing to the formation of the local gaming ecosystem, Krafton will become a mid- to long-term partner through UGF to support promising Indian corporations in making a global leap."
Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said, "If the three corporations representing Korea's IT, entertainment, and finance sectors begin in earnest to invest in technology innovation centered on India and Asia, I expect it will not only serve as an opportunity to broaden our industry's global reach, but also become a solid bridgehead for domestic corporations to enter emerging markets such as India."
Earlier, on the 20th, CEO Choi Soo-yeon met with India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and others to explain UGF's vision and future plans, and Minister Piyush Goyal also expressed agreement with the purpose of establishing UGF.
UGF began operations earlier this year with Krafton contributing an initial 200 billion won, totaling more than 500 billion won when combined with Naver, Mirae Asset, and external investments. The fund follows the Asia Growth Fund (AGF), jointly created by Naver and Mirae Asset. AGF has produced results by investing in unicorn corporations such as Zomato, India's No. 1 food delivery and quick-commerce platform, and Grab, Southeast Asia's largest mobility platform.
Meanwhile, on the 20th, Naver accelerated its push into the Indian market by building a strategic partnership to explore new business opportunities in AI, cloud, and B2C services through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Tata Consultancy Services Limited, the IT affiliate of Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate.