National Growth Fund Invests 560 Billion Won in 'Sovereign AI' Firm Upstage... Also Supports Secondary Batteries and Bio Sectors

Fund Investment Deliberation Committee Convenes on April 30
Five Investment and Loan Cases Approved

Upstage, an artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model development company, has been selected as a direct investment recipient by the National Growth Fund and will receive total funding of 560 billion won. The National Growth Fund will also invest funds in the establishment of the National AI Computing Center. The government aims to accelerate its strategy to enhance 'Sovereign AI' capabilities and position Korea as one of the world's top three AI powerhouses through this initiative.

According to the Financial Services Commission on May 3, the National Growth Fund Investment Deliberation Committee, which convened on April 30, approved a total of five direct investments, including infrastructure investment and loans, with Upstage among the selected companies.

Upstage, a venture company that develops AI solutions for enterprises and government agencies and large language models (LLMs), will receive 100 billion won in equity investment from the National Growth Fund's Advanced Strategic Industry Fund. This will be supplemented by 30 billion won from Korea Development Bank and 430 billion won in private capital from Mirae Asset and others, resulting in a total investment of 560 billion won. The company is recognized for its competitiveness in providing solutions that convert document data into AI-trainable formats and in developing enterprise LLMs that operate using internal corporate data. Recently, Upstage has expanded its business by releasing the open-source LLM 'Solar Open', which is accessible to general users.

With this investment, Upstage is expected to accelerate the advancement of its proprietary LLMs and the development of next-generation AI models. In particular, the company is anticipated to strengthen national AI competitiveness by securing large-scale data and enhancing model performance.

The National Growth Fund will also expand AI infrastructure. Through a public-private special purpose company (SPC), it will build a large-scale AI data center in Solaseado, Haenam, Jeollanam-do, and support both equity investment and loans for the introduction of 15,000 advanced AI semiconductors. This project has a total size of 2.5 trillion won. With this approval, the SPC has secured 400 billion won in capital, and an additional loan of up to 2 trillion won is planned for the future.

Beyond AI, support for advanced industries continues. The National Growth Fund will provide low-interest loans totaling 250 billion won (including 200 billion won from the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund) to Futuregraph, a subsidiary of POSCO Future M established to produce spherical graphite, a key raw material for lithium-ion battery anodes. With this, Futuregraph will build a production base in the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex, with an annual capacity of 37,000 tons of spherical graphite and 33,000 tons of natural graphite anode material. This is expected to help diversify and localize the supply chain for key secondary battery materials.

In the bio sector, ST Gen Bio will receive long-term, low-interest loans totaling 85 billion won, including 65 billion won from the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund, to expand its biosimilar production facilities. The company plans to increase its manufacturing capabilities from raw materials to finished pharmaceuticals to respond to growing global demand.

Additionally, the National Growth Fund has approved a low-interest loan of 16.5 billion won to Foosung, a semiconductor materials company based in Ulsan. By expanding production facilities for high-purity hydrogen fluoride gas, the stability of the semiconductor supply chain is expected to be reinforced. The National Growth Fund applied simplified procedures for small and medium-sized enterprises based in the region, enabling swift approval of this loan support.

An official from the Financial Services Commission stated, "We will continue to identify and announce 'mega projects' that have significant industrial impact and policy value, and will provide ongoing support for diverse funding needs across the advanced industry ecosystem."

Meanwhile, the National Growth Fund has approved seven projects in April alone, accelerating its execution pace. The total cumulative funds invested to date amount to 8.4 trillion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.