Fostering bio ventures by joining hands with pharmaceutical companies...KIMCo Foundation, Yuanta Investment to select the final management company of Startup Korea Fund in 2025
Aug 29, 2025
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The KIMCo Foundation announced on the 29th that it has been selected as the final management company (GP) for the "2025 Startup Korea Fund" organized by Korea Venture Investment in collaboration with Yuanta Investment. The venture investment association, which will be formed with a total of 15.7 billion won, is the first bio-specialized fund based on investment by 15 domestic pharmaceutical companies and the Korea Pharmaceutical Bio Association as private investors. On top of that, the parent fund participated as a special investor, establishing a public-private cooperation structure.
The KIMCo Foundation and Yuanta Investment, which were selected as joint operators, will combine expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, various cooperative networks, and venture investment and fund management capabilities to make strategic investments and practical support for bio ventures to break through difficulties in technology commercialization and leap into the global market.
The KIMCo Foundation is a non-profit foundation established by 59 pharmaceutical and bio companies in Korea and the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio Association. The foundation supports tasks that are difficult for individual companies to pursue alone through an open innovation collaboration platform of joint investment and joint development, and is promoting various activities aimed at innovative growth in the industry.
Yuanta Investment has been selected as a management company for the 「K-BioVaccine Fund" in 2022 and has formed and managed the first fund worth KRW 150 billion to build a cooperative model with domestic pharmaceutical companies.
For the successful operation of the fund, the two management companies plan to discover promising bio ventures that meet the technology needs of pharmaceutical companies and support customized value-up for each stage of growth through an industry-friendly development strategy based on open innovation. It also aims to establish a virtuous cycle structure in the stagnant bio-ecosystem by strengthening links with overseas partners capable of global collaboration and establishing a full-cycle support system to help domestic technologies enter the global market.
Heo Kyung-hwa, CEO of the KIMCo Foundation, said, "This joint fund will be an important milestone that symbolizes the 'continuation of innovation between bio ventures and pharmaceutical companies' in that pharmaceutical companies lead the revitalization of the new drug development ecosystem beyond just raising funds. We will continue to strengthen our new drug development cooperation network to effectively link accumulated technology, development capabilities, and financial capabilities, and create a practical fund management model that can spread commercialization results including global transformation." he said.
Chung Young-kwan, CEO of Yuanta Investment, said "By forming and managing the initial bio fund, the puzzle piece of the bio fund was put together according to Yuanta Investment's growth stage. In addition, by discovering and fostering preclinical biotech ventures with pharmaceutical companies, it will serve as an opportunity to practically implement the company's bio-fund management strategy of 'Connecting the Dots" he said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
