LG Technology Ventures CEO Dong-Su Kim (pictured right) at the LG Open Innovation Summit 2023, photo courtesy of LG Technology Ventures
South Korean conglomerate LG Group committed KRW130bn ($97m) to a fund run by US private equity firm Vista Equity Partners Management, sources privy to the matter told the Korea Economic Daily.
Founded in 2000, Vista has over $100bn under management and targets software, data and technology companies. The unnamed fund in question focuses on AI, bio and automotive electronics startups.
Vista already had corporate limited partners including insurer Cathay Life Insurance, when the latter invested $30m in its Vista Equity Partners Fund VIII in mid-2022.
LG Group, on the other hand, runs a corporate venture capital arm called LG Technology Ventures formed in 2018. Led by GCV Powerlist mainstay Dong-Su Kim, the unit has more than 40 active portfolio companies and scored six exits.
In August last year, multiple LG subsidiaries and affiliates invested $192m in LG Tech Ventures’ second fund, lifting the unit’s overall capital to $768m. Recently, LG invested $1.5m in Galux, a South Korean AI-driven protein drug developer, according to sources cited by the Korea Economic Daily.
The home appliance manufacturing business, LG Electronics, also partnered with asset manager Clearbrook to launch a separate $100m fund, Nova Prime Fund. It provided $3.8m for Goqual, a local smart home technology developer.
