Singapore’s Vickers Venture tapping Korean institutions for $500 mn fund

Vickers Venture Partners, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, is tapping South Korean institutional investors in the second round of fundraising to attract up to $500 million for its sixth fund, according to venture capital industry sources on May 19.

It has recently submitted an investment proposal to Korea Growth Investment Corp., a fund of funds manager investing in startups and small businesses. The VC firm is aggressively marketing the fund to domestic institutions investing in overseas venture capital funds.

Vickers has hit its first close of the new fund at $200 million, or 40% of its target amount. Korea Venture Investment Corporation, another fund of funds manager, committed $16 million in the first round of fundraising.

“There are a number of deep-tech startups in South Korea where we can invest,” a Vickers source told the Korean Investors. “We are looking for co-investment opportunities with South Korean venture capital firms which have the knowhow about deep-tech investment.”

Details about its fundraising target in South Korea have not been disclosed.

The latest fund makes early-stage investment in deep-tech startups, or companies based on engineering or scientific innovations that provide significant advances.

In particular, the vehicle will invest half of its capital in the best-performing portfolio companies of its previous funds.

It has already made follow-up investments in six companies, including US life science company Samumed, biodegradable plastic startup RWDC Industries and Singapore’s financial technology firm Matchmove Pay. Emergex Vaccines, a UK biotechnology firm, is also included in the portfolio.

Since its inception in 2005, Vickers has raised a total of $1 billion through five vehicles which posted an internal rate of return of 25% on average.

Write to Jung-hwan Hwang at jung@hankyung.com