Busan United Technology Holdings Co., Ltd. (CEO Park Hoon-ki) and Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center (CEO Kim Yong-woo) will jointly hold the 'Busan Regional Innovation Fly High Investment Association (hereinafter referred to as Fly Fund)' formation ceremony on the 24th and begin full-scale investment in regional startups.
This fund was formed after being selected as the 'Regional League' division of the 'Busan Future Growth Venture Fund Investment Project' in which the Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Venture Investment (Korea Mother Fund), and Busan Metropolitan City invested, and was raised with a total of KRW 5.8 billion, including KRW 4 billion in mother funds.
In particular, the establishment of the Fly Fund is significant in that it is a regional startup investment ecosystem led by local capital, with the participation of A-Tech CEO Shin Seung-young, Samwon FA Chairman Hong Won-pyo, Citycop CEO Jeong Hyeon-don, and Korea Social Investment (CEO Lee Jong-ik and Lee Sun-yeol) as private investors (LPs).
The Fly Fund is a fund created by both organizations with the common mission of regional revitalization, concentrating their respective capabilities. It is a symbolic starting point in that it is the first step toward regional revitalization through cooperation between regional public accelerators and regional professional investment institutions.
Busan United Technology Holdings Co., Ltd. is a central organization encompassing all of the local industries, academia, and research institutes, and is actively promoting the discovery and investment of startups through the network and infrastructure channels of related organizations. As of this year, it has invested in ▲112 companies (over 80% in the Busan area) and has shown remarkable investment results such as ▲220.6 billion won in follow-up investment and ▲5.8 billion won in recovery. In particular, it is discovering technology and faculty startups in cooperation with 16 local universities and is continuing efforts to vitalize local investment by nurturing and directly investing in the discovered companies.
As a public accelerator, Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center operates unique startup infrastructure and support programs such as ▲Open Innovation ▲Pre-startup Package ▲Early Startup Package ▲B.Startup PIE Placement Program to discover and grow local startups. In particular, since its establishment, it has achieved results such as ▲Sales of KRW 640 billion ▲Job creation of approximately 3,000 ▲Attraction of follow-up investment of KRW 390 billion centered around approximately 1,200 supported companies. In particular, it has contributed to revitalizing the local startup ecosystem by investing in and nurturing more than 20 startups including Locus Korea Co., Ltd., Team Reboot Co., Ltd., Terracle Co., Ltd., Linkflix Co., Ltd., Korea Precision Materials Industry Co., Ltd., and Jimcarry Co., Ltd.
The newly formed Fly Fund is a private investment association that plans to invest more than 80% of the total amount of the pledged amount for the purpose of startup growth and scale-up during the 8-year operation period (4-year investment period). In particular, it will focus on promising companies in Busan's 9 strategic industries and 5 future new industries, focusing on 'Busan regional companies' with headquarters or branches in Busan, and will support continuous growth even after the investment through various support programs held by both organizations.
Busan United Technology Holdings CEO Park Hoon-ki said, “The formation of this fund is a meaningful starting point for establishing a sustainable investment foundation for startups in the Busan area,” and added, “Based on close cooperation between industry, academia, and research, we will support promising local companies at each stage of growth and create an investment ecosystem that grows together with the local economy.”
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