South Korea and Israel Team Up for $80 Million Tech Fund
In a significant boost to their bilateral ties, South Korea has selected OurCrowd, Israel’s most active venture investor, to co-manage an $80 million fund for DeepTech investments. The fund, named the NH-OC Global Open Innovation Fund, will focus on investing in approximately 25-30 startups from core technology sectors such as semiconductors, robotics, automotive, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and digital health.
This initiative aims to create a synergistic relationship between Israeli innovation and South Korean industrial prowess. So far, $48 million has been secured by the Korean partners, NH Venture Investment and K-Growth. The Jerusalem-based OurCrowd is currently in the process of raising the remaining funds from its network of over 240,000 registered investors worldwide.
OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved said, “The establishment of the Israel-Korea bilateral fund with the backing of the South Korean government is wonderful news for Israeli high-tech. South Korea is looking at Israeli innovation to establish its position in the industries of the future that it strives to lead by the end of the decade and beyond.”
He added that Israeli DeepTech companies will gain direct access to South Korean industrial giants and will be able to forge collaborations on a global scale, including in the Asia-Pacific markets. South Korean startups will benefit from exposure to Israel’s deep global connections to leading venture capital investors, entrepreneurs, and family offices, accelerating their access to foreign tech innovation ecosystems and much-needed capital.
K-Growth, an agency under the Korean Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy (MOTIE), has committed $32 million to the fund. It is one of Korea’s largest financial agencies and plays a significant role in managing the government’s strategic investment funds. This commitment marks one of K-Growth’s largest international fund investments to date.
NH Venture Investment, the venture arm of NongHyup Financial Group, has contributed $16 million to the fund. NongHyup Financial Group ranks among the top five financial groups in South Korea, with assets exceeding $400 billion.
NH Venture Investment CEO Kim Hyun Jin said, “K-Growth has established this fund to support the global expansion of Korean companies through open innovations with global high-tech enterprises such as innovative Israeli companies. We expect to find Israeli innovation through OurCrowd’s extensive Israeli and Global network, to collaborate with Korean high-tech startups to grow together through this fund.”
