Korea’s KIP eyes Europe, China VC fund launches in 2021

Korea Investment Partners Co. (KIP), South Korea’s largest venture capital firm, is aiming to launch two overseas investment funds next year – one focusing on Europe’s game industry and the other comprised solely of Chinese investors – with the global portfolio making up over 40% of its investments this year, its chief executive said.

KIP, part of Korea Investment Holdings Co., had to postpone the fundraising planned for this year due to travel restrictions and cooled venture capital markets in Europe and China amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

“That fundraising will bear fruit next year without fail,” KIP Chief Executive Baek Yer-hyun told The Korea Economic Daily in a recent interview.

He added that the planned China fund will face no investment restrictions in the country given its pool of investors, but declined to give further details on the fundraising targets for both vehicles.

This year, KIP raised a combined 405.6 billion won ($375 million) in five funds, including a 332 billion won ($307 million) global biotech-focused vehicle which became this year’s largest biotech-sector fund in the country.

KIP’s total investments will likely top 500 billion won ($462 million) in 2020, marking the largest annual VC investment by a Korean company and surpassing the 354.3 billion won it invested for full-year 2019.

Between January and November, it had executed 495.3 billion won in investments, focusing on overseas and scale-up investments, or targeting startups nearing unicorn status. 

Of the 11-month tally, overseas investments account for 42%, including India’s largest food delivery platform Swiggy, Thailand’s online financial brokerage firm Rabbit Internet and UK mobile game developer First Light Games. It also invested $2.5 million in Vietnam’s No. 3 game publisher Appota Corp. this year.

Back in 2016, KIP invested in Celleron Therapeutics Ltd., a UK cancer treatment developer founded by Oxford University professors.

"We will become a trailblazer, rather than following trends. We will continue to challenge to become Asia’s No. 1 venture capital firm,” Baek said.

Established in 1986, KIP manages 3.3 trillion won ($3 billion) in assets and envisions a global VC firm with 10 trillion won in AUM within the next 10 years.

“Our role and strategy is to foster startups to grow into middle-market companies through IPOs and then help them leapfrog into global unicorns through overseas expansion,” the CEO said.

Its domestic investments this year included the dawn delivery service company Oasis Co.; mobile laundry pick-up and delivery app Laundrygo; Bumhan Fuel Cell Co.; biotech firm Coimmune Inc.; and SMLab, a rechargeable battery materials maker.

KIP is set to liquidate two domestic funds early next year: one with 75 billion won in capital and the other with 140 billion won. They were formed in 2011 and 2012, respectively, generating returns of 11.3% and 27%.

“We will strengthen our capabilities focusing on growth capital connecting venture capital with buyout funds as well as global investment,” Baek added.
 
Write to Jung-hwan Hwang at jung@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.