The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Han Sung-sook, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced on Thursday the 11th that it has completed the selection of an operator for the '2025 Mother Fund 2nd Regular Subscription' project.
This round, which saw a competitive ratio of 6.5:1, saw the mother fund invest 310 billion won, selecting 15 venture funds totaling 600 billion won. The selected funds are expected to be established within three months, with the goal of completing formation and initiating investment within the year.
The core of this second round of regular investment is the "NEXT UNICORN Project." Amidst the accelerating global competition for AI and deep tech technology supremacy, the project will provide large-scale, concentrated investment to support promising domestic ventures and startups as they grow from the founding stage to scale-up. Furthermore, a small-scale fund will be established to facilitate early-stage investments, thereby revitalizing the startup ecosystem.
The selection results by field are as follows.
The "NEXT UNICORN Project Startup Fund," which supports early-stage investments in startups led by AI and deep tech professionals, has selected nine funds with a total value of KRW 260 billion. To secure a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving deep tech sector, the fund will prioritize investments in promising startups founded by professionals with industry and research experience.
Next, the "NEXT UNICORN Project Scale-Up Fund," which supports scale-up investments of an average of KRW 10 billion or more for AI and deep tech companies, was selected for two funds totaling KRW 310 billion. This fund plans to prioritize investments in companies participating in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' support programs and recommended by public institutions as performing well. This is expected to contribute to the scale-up of promising companies fostered by the government.
Notably, in line with the government's commitment to fostering AI unicorns, Coupang, Korea's first unicorn company, has made a large-scale investment in the "NEXT UNICORN Project Scale-up Fund" to foster the creation of future unicorns. Coupang aims to leverage its accumulated AI technology expertise to foster future companies that can contribute to the advancement of the domestic AI industry.
Additionally, four "Early-stage Small Funds" worth 20.1 billion won have been selected, providing investment support not only to AI and deep tech companies but also to general early-stage companies. This support, provided by startup planners, creative economy centers, and university technology holding companies, is expected to revitalize the startup ecosystem by providing full-cycle support, from discovery to incubation and investment, for promising startups.
Minister Han Seong-sook said, “The results of this investment project selection are significant in that the private sector has actively responded to the government’s policy of fostering AI and deep-tech unicorns,” and added, “The mother fund will expand its support so that promising companies discovered and supported by the government can grow into global leading companies that will be responsible for the nation’s future growth engines.”
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