South Korean government-backed fund-of-funds manager Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC) has approved a capital commitment of $23 million for three funds in Asia, according to a disclosure.
KVIC committed $6.5 million each to the vehicles of Jakarta-based early-stage investor AC Ventures, pan-Asian venture capital firm Gobi Partners and $10 million to China-based healthcare-focused investment firm Highlight Capital.
AC Ventures has a minimum target corpus of $16.3 million while Gobi Partners and Highlight Capital are seeking to raise a minimum of $39 million and $200 million for their funds respectively, according to the disclosure.
AC Ventures, formed in 2019 following a merger between Agaeti Venture Capital and Convergence Ventures, last year secured the final close of its third fund at over $205 million. Gobi Partners, meanwhile, teamed up with social finance platform operator Ethis Group to launch a $20-million fund that will invest in Shariah-compliant startups in June. Gobi has raised 15 funds to date, invested in over 320 startups and nurtured nine unicorns.
Last year, KVIC, which has over $4 billion in assets under management, approved a capital commitment of $37.5 million to five venture funds from the Asia Pacific and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The five VC firms which secured a commitment from KVIC are China’s Northern Light VC, which received $10 million; Southeast Asia’s Vertex Venture Management ($15 million), Cento Ventures ($6 million) and Do Ventures ($5 million); and MENA-focused Shorooq Partners ($1.5 million).
Earlier, KVIC called for applications from fund managers for a 75 billion won ($68 million) mandate from its Foreign Venture Capital Investment Fund (FVCIF), an investment vehicle that invests in offshore VC funds to help South Korean companies grow and expand internationally.