Hana launches control tower for venture firms

Hana Financial Group's headquarters in central Seoul. / Korea Times file

By Kim Bo-eun

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai

Hana Financial Group has established “Hana Innovative Finance Council,” a control tower to assist venture companies in fintech, the group said Sunday.

Group chairman Kim Jung-tai will serve as chief of the body, and 17 top-ranking officials including CEOs of affiliates and group executives will participate as members.

Hana said it launched the initiative based on the government's focus on innovative finance.

The control tower will have two bodies, one focusing on loan systems including technology appraisal and credit ratings and another on investment for venture companies through attracting venture capital.

The group plans to pour in a total of 20 trillion won into the initiative by 2022. This is 5 trillion won more than its earlier plan to invest 15 trillion won from 2018 to 2020.

In a related move, the group's venture capital firm Hana Ventures will launch a 100 billion won fund to invest in tech startups this month, contributing a total of 55 billion won.

Hana Ventures will become the first venture capital firm here to create its first fund amounting to 100 billion won.

Shinhan and KB financial groups established similar bodies earlier this year.

Shinhan pledged to provide a total of 46.34 trillion won through the body for startups and small-and medium-sized enterprises in the next five years.

Headed by Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, around 2,000 executives of Shinhan's 14 affiliates are taking part.

KB stated it would operate a 2 trillion won venture fund for startups for the next five years.

It also set up a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund amounting to 10 billion won.