KT Investment injects $27.8 million in 20 startups this year

KT Investment said on Thursday that it invested 35 billion won ($27.8 million) in 20 startups this past year, and that six invested companies succeeded in initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions.

Founded in 2015, KT Investment is the venture capital arm of KT Group. It has 273 billion won in assets under management and has invested in 80 companies to date. 

Of the 20 latest companies, 10 were in artificial intelligence (AI) while the remaining 10 were in the sectors of mobile (5 companies), cloud (2), and smart logistics and other fields (3).

AI was KT Investment's top target area, accounting for 50% of its investments. Within AI, investments were made across a wide range of related technologies, from AI semiconductors to AI application services in industries such as education, finance and retail.

Among the companies KT Investment invested in, Lunit, a medical AI company, Neuromeka, a leading collaborative robot company, and Auto&, an automobile aftermarket platform, were subsequently listed on the Kosdaq, and SoundHound, an American conversational AI company, was listed on the Nasdaq.

Joongang Control, which manufactures electric vehicle chargers, and Major9, an entertainment company, were acquired by Lotte Data Communication and By4M, respectively. Of the invested companies, Megazone Cloud and Korea Credit Data have leapfrogged into unicorns.

"In 2023, we will continue to invest in promising startups without being distracted by market conditions, and we will walk with the founders to the end as a partner that can share their burdens even in difficult times," said Kim Ji-hyun, CEO of KT Investment.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com