South Korea-based entertainment company Huayi Brothers is set to launch a corporate venturing subsidiary named Huayi Investment that will focus on the media sector, the Korea Herald reported yesterday.
Huayi Investment will be allocated ₩50bn ($45m) and begin investing as early as the end of this month. It will focus on China and South Korea-based media and content startups, as well as projects such as movies and web comics.
The unit also intends to invest in productions created by its China-based parent company Huayi Brothers Media.
Huayi Brothers was founded in 2005 as Sim Entertainment but changed its name in May 2016 following an acquisition by the Chinese conglomerate two months earlier.
Huayi Brothers Media was founded in 1994 and operates a film studio, TV production company, talent agency, record label and a chain of cinemas. It has made direct investments in startups such as virtual-reality headset producer Baofeng Mojing, which closed a $35m series B round in January this year.
Ji Seung-beom, chief executive of Huayi Brothers, said: “We aim to build a virtuous cycle within the company by investing in a variety of intellectual properties and media and content-related startups.”