South Korea-based steel producer Posco has committed KRW5.1bn ($4.3m) to a newly formed corporate venturing unit, Pulse News reported yesterday.
Founded in 1968, Posco bills itself as the world’s fifth largest steel producer, with more than 29,500 employees and 164 international subsidiaries or offices.
Postech Holdings, a Posco subsidiary that provides seed funding for university-allied startups, will manage the early-stage fund, which will back graduates of an incubator and startup contest it runs called Idea Market Place.
The unit is the first such vehicle formed by a major South Korea-based group since regulations changed to simplify the process in July 2020. Restrictions had discouraged non-financial holding companies such as conglomerates from forming financial subsidiaries under South Korean law.
Posco already operates a corporate venturing subsidiary called Posco Capital, which has participated in funding rounds for autonomous vehicle technology developer StradVision and cellular medicine developer Cytovant in the past year.