By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Korea’s NH Venture Investment is looking to invest millions of dollars in Israeli tech firms, its chief executive said, seeking to combine Israeli ingenuity with Korean manufacturing prowess to build larger companies.
NH Venture, started in 2019, is an arm of the NongHyup Financial Group.
Last July, NH teamed up with Israeli investment platform OurCrowd in an $80-million fund called Trepont to invest in and connect as many as 30 startups from Korea, Israel and Silicon Valley in so-called deep tech, which includes artificial intelligence, semiconductors, defence, healthcare and quantum computing.
Hyun Jin Kim, CEO of NH Venture, said he aims to invest at least $40 million of the fund in Israeli startups. NH has already invested in Israel’s Kardome, an AI voice recognition company that works with Korean firms LG and Hyundai Motors.
During a brief visit to Israel this week, Kim – who said he is also interested in Israel’s defence technologies – met with eight startups, including Israeli unicorn Hailo.
“I believe Israel is a good starting point to make a global market with Korean manufacturing,” Kim told Reuters on Wednesday, adding NH aims to penetrate the U.S. market.
“We will make an investment as soon as possible.”
He said he was not overly worried about Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, since innovation and development have continued throughout the conflict.
OurCrowd partner Ely Razin said the joint fund is seeking early-stage companies that have proven products. He noted that Korean interest has grown since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Korea is no stranger to Israel. Samsung, LG and Hyundai have venture capital arms in the country. Both countries are among the biggest in research and development spending.
Seong Ryong Kang, CEO of Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation, said it was easier to cooperate with Israel than other Asian countries with similar industries since the relationship would be complementary.
Having other Korean venture firms here “reflects on Korean companies’ strong willingness to cooperate and invest in Israeli companies,” he said.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Rod Nickel)
