Lotte Ventures hosts L-Camp in Tokyo for promising Korean startups

 
TOKYO – Lotte Ventures Corp., the corporate venture capital (CVC) business unit of South Korea’s Lotte Group, on Thursday hosted L-Camp Japan, a gathering of promising Korean startups and Japanese business leaders.

Jointly organized with Lotte Group Japan and Korea’s Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center, the meeting attracted 172 officials from First CVC, a major Japanese CVC networking group, including Asahi Kasei Corp., SoftBank, Mizuho Bank, NTT DoCoMo and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Eleven Korean startups, including AI-based cybersecurity data intelligence developer S2W and autonomous delivery robot maker Neubility, showcased their technologies at the gathering, which will last until Friday.

Lotte said the Korean companies were chosen via rigorous screening by judges, including the chief executive of Lotte Ventures Japan Co., to review their growth potential in the Japanese market.

LOTTE FOUNDER’S PIONEERING SPIRIT

"Korean startups have high business and technological capabilities that also work in the global market," said Lotte Ventures Chief Executive Jeon Young-min. “We will support our young entrepreneurs in their pursuit of business success.”

L-Camp is a startup support program that inherits the pioneering spirit of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho.

Through the program, Lotte provides support for promising Korean startups to advance into overseas markets, including the US and Vietnam.

In May, Lotte Ventures established its Silicon Valley office. In 2021, it launched a branch in Vietnam to collaborate with the Vietnamese government and local accelerators for Korean startups seeking business opportunities there.

CHAIRMAN SHIN'S INTEREST

Lotte Group established Lotte Ventures Japan last year with an aim to invest in local startups in cooperation with Mizuho Bank, one of the country’s three megabanks.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin leads the group’s CVC business. He injected his own money into Lotte Ventures for a 19.99% stake.

Hotel Lotte Co. is Lotte Ventures’ largest shareholder with 39.97%. KB Securities Co. and Hana Securities Co. own 19.98% and 19.9%, respectively.

Lotte Ventures, formerly Lotte Accelerator founded in 2016, has raised some 300 billion won ($224 million) in funds for startup investments and spent about 200 billion won on the manufacturing, chemical, retail, food and tourism sectors.

Write to Yeong-Hyo Jeong at hugh@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.