Korea Investment & Securities Group Provides Comprehensive Support for Early-Stage Startups

“Dream Sherpa” Supports Social Integration of Young Adults Preparing for Independence
Global Expansion Programs for Startups Also in Operation

Korea Investment & Securities Group is expanding its support to help early-stage startups grow. The group aims to realize "creating social value through finance" by providing comprehensive support, ranging from corporate social responsibility programs for young adults preparing for independence to overseas expansion in partnership with global companies.

On August 25, Korea Investment & Securities announced that it is combining the capabilities of its affiliates, including Korea Investment Accelerator (Korea Investment AC) and Korea Investment Partners, to provide investment and growth support tailored to the lifecycle of companies.

The group's flagship initiative is the corporate social responsibility program “Korea Investment Dream Sherpa,” launched this year. This is a startup incubation program designed to help young adults preparing to become self-reliant to start their own businesses and achieve independence. This year, five teams were selected to receive comprehensive support under the program.

The selected teams are currently preparing to launch startups across various sectors, including ceramics, perfumery, apparel, therapeutic farms, and traditional food. By the end of this year, Korea Investment & Securities will provide each team with up to KRW 20 million in startup funding, offer one-on-one facilitator matching, and business model development training. Tax and accounting consulting, professional mentoring from Korea Investment AC, and startup education are also provided. At the end of the year, a pop-up store utilizing Korea Investment & Securities’ headquarters space is scheduled to open as well.

The group is also operating programs at the group level to support global expansion for early-stage startups. In July, Korea Investment AC signed a financial business agreement with the Oregon UAS Accelerator in the United States to support the entry of domestic startups in the defense and drone sectors into the U.S. market. Through collaboration with specialized accelerators in the fields of UAS, robotics, autonomous systems, and dual-use technology—which have also established partnerships with the Oregon State Military Department—the group plans to support Korean startups in entering the United States.

Earlier, in June, Korea Investment AC and Korea Investment Partners hosted the hackathon “Push to Prod Seoul” for Korean startups in partnership with global AI company Anthropic and AI-powered software development platform Replit. Participating companies developed products or business automation systems applicable to real-world operations within two hours using Anthropic’s AI model “Claude” and Replit’s developer tools, and showcased them to engineers from these global companies.

In March, the group also teamed up with global IT company Microsoft to run the “Synergy Club” workshop, designed to support overseas expansion for early-stage startups. The Synergy Club is a partnership program managed by Korea Investment AC for its portfolio companies, aiming to offer genuine growth opportunities and networking for promising startups.

Korea Investment AC, established with the goal of "creating social value through finance," is recognized for its strong role as a supporter of early-stage companies by continuing to increase investments in a venture capital market that has contracted. Only last year, the group executed new investments totaling KRW 12 billion—a roughly 15% increase year-on-year—and since 2022 has invested a total of KRW 40.8 billion in 120 companies. In particular, investments in companies less than three years old account for 66% of the total, strengthening the group’s role as a "first institutional investor" supplying early-stage capital.

In addition, the group is committed not only to funding but also to thorough post-investment management. Last year, follow-on investments of KRW 4.2 billion were made in existing portfolio companies, which in turn attracted 35 outside investment deals and were selected for the government’s startup support program TIPS in 11 cases.

Korea Investment & Securities Group is establishing a support system that enables startups to advance from the early startup phase to the growth stage by leveraging the investment and corporate finance strengths of Korea Investment & Securities, as well as collaboration with affiliates such as Korea Investment AC, Korea Investment Partners, and Korea Investment PE.

A representative from Korea Investment & Securities said, “Our ultimate goal as a group is not just to seek returns as investors, but to be a genuine partner throughout the entire lifecycle of a company, from founding to maturity, and to build long-term trust relationships. We will continue to use our extensive financial infrastructure and networks to provide steadfast support for promising domestic companies to become leading players on the global stage.”

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