SEOUL, KOREA--(Marketwire - September 2, 2009) - The Korea Venture Investment Co. (KVIC, CEO Hyungki Kim) and Cisco (
SkyLake will focus its investments in leading small and medium-sized enterprises in IT and new growth-engine industries. KVIC, the Korea National Pension Service, Tongyang Life Insurance and Cisco are co-investors. In addition, the fund expects to add value to the portfolio companies by actively supporting their management.
SGI4's first closing is 100 billion KRW (USD $80 million) and will be active for eight years. As the largest IT venture fund in Korea, and the largest investment in a fund that KVIC has made to date, SGI4 is designed to revitalize domestic IT companies. For KVIC, the new fund represents a key way to expand its investments and attract foreign capital.
This investment in SGI4 continues Cisco's long-time commitment to invest in the innovation economy globally. Cisco is an active and involved investor in markets around the world with a portfolio valued at approximately $1.3 billion.
Executive Quotes:
- "KVIC and SkyLake are very pleased that SGI4, a fund that both parties have put countless hours into, will finally be launched. KVIC, as a government-backed fund-of-funds manager, will continue to provide support to both domestic and international investors to stimulate and advance the venture capital/private equity market in Korea. Accordingly in the future, we hope that more venture capital/private equity firms are given the chance to work together with KVIC to globalize their investment scope," said Hyungki Kim, CEO of KVIC.
- "Korea is world-renowned as a leader in ICT innovation, and Cisco's anchor investment in the SGI4 fund underscores our belief in the innovative technology and ideas in this exciting market," said Hilton Romanski, vice president of Corporate Development at Cisco. "Strong local venture capital and limited partners are the foundation for successful engagement, and the fact that Cisco is moving forward with a commitment of 40 billion KRW (USD $32 million) for the fund is indicative of the strength of SkyLake."
- Daeje Chin, CEO of SkyLake Incuvest, added, "Skylake Incuvest has a long-standing belief in the value of network technologies as a platform for innovation and looks forward to collaborating with Cisco in establishing this new fund. Korea Fund of Funds' involvement in this initiative acted as a vital factor in completing the first closing of the fund, and we plan to show our gratitude by executing investments where both investor and investee come out as winners."
About KVIC (Korea Venture Investment Co.)
The Korean Venture Investment Corp. (KVIC) is a government-backed fund-of-funds management firm established for the purpose of fostering the growth of Korean domestic private equity industry. Since its establishment, KVIC has played a significant role as the cornerstone and has committed around USD 1 billion into 120 investor VC/PE funds in Korea.
About SkyLake Incuvest Co.
Skylake is a leading private equity investor in Korea with a dedicated focus on technology investment. Our mission is to invest and incubate ('incuvest') innovative ICT companies to grow and succeed. In addition to the capital injection, we commit our management and technology expertise, and global network to our portfolio companies. We believe that by supporting our portfolio companies succeed, we can realize superior long-term investment returns for our investors.
About Cisco
Cisco (
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