Mirae Asset-We Ventures Co., Ltd. to form a fund specializing in semiconductor and small businesses with 100.1 billion won. 

KDB Select Blind GP, Start-up Venture Specialist PEF Bichkle 

Mirae Asset Venture Investment and We Ventures have formed a fund dedicated to investment in materials, parts, and equipment worth KRW 10.1 billion. It is expected that We Ventures, which has excellent experience in Mirae Asset Venture Investment, a large fund management company, and ability to find early companies, will create synergy. It is expected to expand its scope by investing in Gross Capital as well as early companies in the field.

According to an industry on the 16th, Mirae Asset Venture Investment and We Ventures formed 'Future Asset-WE Semiconductor 1st Startup Venture Investment Joint Venture Company' in the form of Co-GP (Co-GP). The fund's non-hickle is a private equity investment company (PEF) specializing in start-ups and ventures. In March, this fund was selected as a fund consignment management company (GP) exclusively for investment in materials, parts, and equipment conducted by the Korea Development Bank and began to be formed.

The fund's major limited liability investors (LPs) are government finance (30 billion won), Korea Development Bank (KDB) (10 billion won), Korea Growth Finance Investment Management, SK Hynix, Export-Import Bank of Korea and Mirae Asset Securities. GPcommitment is more than 1% of the total amount of the agreement. Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Mirae Asset Financial Group invested a total of 19 billion won and We Ventures invested 1 billion won. The fund's management period is 10 years and the investment period is five years. The base rate of return is 5 per cent on the basis of the internal rate of return (IRR). 

The formation of the fund is in line with the growth strategy pursued by Mirae Asset Venture Investment and We Ventures. Until now, Mirae Asset Venture Investment has been focusing on small fund strategies that focus on venture funds worth between 20 billion won and 30 billion won and investments in unique accounts. However, it focused on expanding its operating assets after entering KOSDAQ in 2019 in line with the trend of large-scale funds. As venture funds worth 100 billion won and private equity funds (PEF) were formed one after another based on the public offering funds secured, AUM was worth 743.7 billion won as of June.

As soon as We Ventures was established, it also managed a number of 20 billion to 50 billion won funds and discovered early companies for each sector. The formation of the fund paved the way for the fund's enlargement. This fund also incorporates We Ventures' clear fund management method. Screening roles with expertise in ICT and sub-departmental areas will be forward-deployed to manage only the funds in question.

Representative fund managers are Chae Jung-hoon, vice president of Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Jun Jin-won, vice president of We Ventures. Vice President Chae entered the VC industry through Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and ICT and small businesses are the main areas of investment. Patron, TmaxSoft, Senko and others are representative portfolios. Jeon, a former vice president of Samsung Electronics and Samsung Venture Investment, has expertise in deep-tech fields at home and abroad such as system semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI). It invested in Openedge Technology, GAONCHIPS, and Qualitas Semiconductor.

Cho Jin-hwan, senior team leader of Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Kim Sung-hyun, senior team leader of We Ventures, were named as key management personnel. Senior team leader Cho made investments in semi-five, Atlas Labs, and others by making investments in ICT, commerce, and small businesses. Senior team leader Kim built expertise in investment in ICT and FinTech at LB Investment and worked as a director at Kraft Technologies, a FinTech company.

The fund will focus on building a semiconductor and small department head ecosystem. Major areas of investment are system semiconductors, major processes, future cars, and AI, which are technologies based on the fourth industrial revolution. It needs to invest 50 billion won into semiconductor businesses and 60 percent into small business managers.

It is predicted that it will invest not only in Series A and B but also in Gross Capital. The company plans to help start-ups that are in the stage of full-fledged growth after the early stages of their start-ups grow into unicorn companies. The company plans to discover promising industries through its internal capabilities and external networks such as CVC by utilizing existing investment company networks and Mirae Asset Securities Research Center.

We Ventures is making remarkable achievements in the liquidation sector after forming a union this year. SmartWE-SF2 succeeded in increasing it to 53 billion won, and WE Signature Black Fund 1 recorded 195.1% of internal return (IRR) in July. With the operation of the 10.1 billion won fund, AUM has increased to 376.5 billion won. 

By Reporter Lee Jong-hye

This article was shown on the 13:53 Durbel paid page on December 16, 2021. 

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