Venture Promotion
The Chungbuk Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, sponsored by the LG Group, nurtured 101 venture firms last year to help them record a sales growth of 35% and create 154 jobs. The center is planning to add 50 venture firms to the list of those it supports this year.
The center held a ceremony for its first anniversary on February 17 at the Idea Factory located in Chungju City. The ceremony was attended by Vice Minister of Science, ICT & Future Planning Hong Nam-ki, North Chungcheong Provincial Governor Lee Shi-jong and about 100 others.
“Last year, we set the foundation for the creation of a creative industrial ecosystem by combining LG’s production and R&D capabilities with the venture firms’ strong will for innovation,” said Yoon Joon-won, head of the center, adding, “We will work with more than 150 venture firms this year so that they can attain continuous sales growth and job creation.”
According to the center, the 101 companies posted total sales of 575.6 billion won last year, 40 billion won more than a year ago. In addition, it opened 58,000 patents for them, including 52,400 opened by the LG Group, while providing 92 by transfer, 62 in the form of three-year exclusive license and 25 in the form of non-exclusive three-year license.
At present, the center is running a fund of 150 billion won for investment, financing and guarantee purposes with regard to venture firms. A 40 billion won portion raised by the LG Group and the North Chungcheong Province is scheduled to go to the venture firms in earnest this year. Until the end of last month, the center has implemented an investment of two billion won, a lending of 53.1 billion won and a guarantee of 13.3 billion won. In the meantime, apart from the fund, LG invested 411 billion won in the province last year and is planning to increase the amount to 1.2 trillion won for this year and next year.