Seoul City Makes First Investment in 'AI Transformation'... Initial 30 Billion Won Contribution to 'Vision 2030 Fund'

[Financial News] Seoul City is accelerating the activation of the startup ecosystem to help excellent startups overcome the 'Death Valley' and settle in the market and scale up through the 'Seoul Vision 2030 Fund' this year as well.
According to Seoul City on the 14th, AUTOCRYPT, a mobility security specialist company supported by the city's startup support and fund investment, was recently successfully listed on the KOSDAQ market.
It is the world's only full-stack automotive software specialist company capable of providing everything from internal and external vehicle communication security to European export evaluation certification institutions (TS). In September 2023, it moved into the Seoul Startup Hub Gongdeok on the recommendation of a fund operator invested by Seoul City and attracted a total of 14.1 billion won from five Seoul City invested funds.
Seoul City is also promoting the discovery of future promising industries and the startup ecosystem through the 'Seoul Vision 2030 Fund'. Starting in 2023 and continuing until 2026, the goal is to create a fund of 5 trillion won by linking Seoul City's investment, government mother funds, and private investment funds. The city has committed a total of 151 billion won to create 2.6646 trillion won by last year, focusing on investing intensively in future strategic industries.
This year, the goal is to create a fund of 485 billion won in July-August, with a plan to commit 30 billion won. The city plans to focus more than half of this on the AI industry to strengthen industrial competitiveness centered on artificial intelligence (AI).
In February, at 'AI SEOUL 2025', the city announced seven strategies for fostering the AI industry and revealed plans to establish an AI-specialized fund within the Seoul Vision 2030 Fund, with a total of 500 billion won to be created over two years starting this year.
This year's first investment project in its third year of creation is to strengthen investment in the AI sector, the core of future innovation, through the newly established 'AI Transformation' and the 'Bio' sector, which requires rapid investment support due to market stagnation, and the 'First Step Companion (Angel)' sector, which supports early startups that have difficulty securing funds. A total of 30 billion won will be initially invested.
In particular, the AI Transformation sector plans to supply funds across the entire AI value chain, considering the convergence industry ecosystem, including AI infrastructure and core models, data analysis and computing, and AI convergence services.
Previously, the city invested 611.5 billion won in 262 AI companies through the 'Seoul Future Innovation Growth Fund' created with the private sector and 72.8 billion won in 51 AI companies through the Seoul Vision 2030 Fund. The city plans to continue supporting investments in promising companies by linking with various projects promoted by the city and utilizing investor networking.
Applications for fund operator proposals will be accepted until 2 PM on the 28th. Proposals can only be submitted through the Seoul City web hard, following the 'Paperless Seoul City' policy.
The announcement of the 'Seoul Vision 2030 Fund Investment Project' can be found on the Seoul City website and the Seoul Economic Promotion Agency website.
Joo Yong-tae, Director of the Seoul City Economic Office, said, "This year, the Seoul Vision 2030 Fund focused on strengthening the AI sector, which will be the driving force of future innovation," adding, "The 'Seoul Vision 2030 Fund' will continue to play a role as a priming water so that various convergence industries based on AI can emerge and promising companies leading the AI transformation can grow."

chlee1@fnnews.com Lee Chang-hoon Reporter