Export-Import Bank to launch 100 billion won AI, semiconductor venture fund

The Export-Import Bank of Korea is setting up a venture-focused fund worth 100 billion won ($64.8 million) to invest in advanced industries including AI, in line with the implementation of a revised law governing the state-run lender.

The move comes as the government pushes ahead with what it calls three mega projects centered on semiconductors, AI and physical AI, with policy finance institutions now stepping up efforts to nurture future industries.

According to documents submitted by the Export-Import Bank to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se on Tuesday, the bank plans to establish a blind venture fund in the second half of this year to invest in companies in advanced strategic industries including AI, semiconductors, secondary batteries and biotech.

The bank is expected to finalize the fund structure after internal consultations in the near term. The fund is expected to be around 100 billion won in size, with details likely to take shape as early as the second half of this year.

Once established, the fund will allow the Export-Import Bank to channel policy financing to early-stage companies with strong growth potential through indirect investment via venture capital, on top of its existing indirect investment through private equity funds. The eligible pool of recipients would expand beyond current exporters to include venture companies with the long-term potential to enter global markets. The bank would also move beyond its loan-heavy model to build a new policy finance portfolio that combines equity investment.

The venture industry sees the blind fund as a scale-up opportunity. Early-stage ventures face inherent limits in entering overseas markets on their own, given the dominant presence of large conglomerates and mid-sized companies in export markets. Industry players expect the fund to serve as a springboard for growth, as it would give them access not only to the bank's equity investment but also to its corporate finance expertise and overseas networks.

The fund is being established under the revised Export-Import Bank Act, which took effect June 24.

The revised law expands the bank's scope of direct investment and broadens the types of funds eligible for indirect investment. The core change, agreed upon by ruling and opposition parties at the end of last year, was to strengthen the bank's investment functions to support the overseas expansion of small and mid-sized companies and enhance industrial competitiveness.

As a result, eligible vehicles for indirect investment now extend beyond collective investment schemes under the Capital Markets Act to include venture investment associations under the Venture Investment Promotion Act and specialized new-technology finance companies under the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act.

Direct investment is also now permitted. Previously, the bank could only make equity contributions tied to loans or guarantees. Even in investment-development projects, loans could follow only after investors had been fully secured, making direct investment outside of lending effectively impossible.

In line with the change, the bank announced Tuesday that it would make a 20 billion won equity investment in AI chipmaker Furiosa AI — its first direct investment since its founding. The bank will acquire redeemable convertible preferred shares issued by Furiosa AI.

Furiosa AI is a fabless AI chip designer that develops neural processing units for data center inference workloads. The company began mass production of its second-generation chip, the RNGD (Renegade), this year.

The direct investment gives the Export-Import Bank a portfolio spanning the full AI transformation value chain, from AI semiconductors to cloud infrastructure. In the first half of this year, the bank made 20 billion won indirect investments each in AI chipmaker Rebellions and cloud company Megazone Cloud through a project fund.

"Expanding policy finance to nurture advanced industries is necessary, but because public funds are involved, rigorous screening must come first," Kwon said. "Objective investment criteria and a transparent management framework must be put in place to ensure capital is concentrated in companies whose technology and growth potential have been verified."