본문영역

Water, Nature and Humankind
K-water Focus ①
  • Korea’s Water Industry
    K-water aligns with investors to promote the development of the water industry

    K-water launches the Water Industry Investors Council and hosts an investment conference.

    • Written by. Choi Hang-jwa
    • Photographs by. Hyeon-hee Kim
  • K-water has aligned with investment institutions to promote the growth of the water industry. K-water launched the Water Industry Investors Council and hosted an investment conference to encourage investment in SMEs and venture startups in the water industry and help them grow into global unicorn companies that will lead the global water market.
The Water Industry Investors Council

K-water launched the Water Industry Investors Council and held an investment conference entitled “Blue Gold Water Industry: Explore its Future” on April 22 at the Shilla, Seoul.
The event was attended by K-water CEO Jae-hyeon Park, Professor Rak-gyeong Song from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Chairman Jin-o Shin from the Korea Accelerators Association, and Senior Vice President Byeong-hak Moon from Korea Venture Investment Corp. The two-part event was live streamed on Youtube.
In Part I, there was a kick-off ceremony for the Water Industry Investors Council (hereinafter ‘the Council’) and Cheongcheong Innovation Fund, the first-ever water industry investment fund confirmed its first investment commitment by signing investment deals with two promising water companies, Quantum Cat and HRM.
The Council, a group formed to develop the water industry and investment ecosystem, will focus on activities in the interest of private sector investors in the water industry, improving their industry access, and expanding investments in water-related companies with strong growth potential. The Council is made up of 12institutions including K-water, the Korea Venture Investment Corp., and D3 Jubilee Partners. Its members will share information on promising water industry companies, train professional investment analysts for active communication between companies and investors and carry out joint projects to improve investors’ access to the water industry.

We decided to join the event to
find investors for our IoT-based
potable water quality tester.
I think it was a
valuable forum for water industry
companies to gain new opportunities for growth.
To this end, we will actively
participate in the growth
of Korea’s water industry.
Yeong-deuk Kim, CEO of The
Wave Talk which held IR
session during the event
Opportunities for Investment and Sales

In Part II, ten water industry startups conducted IR sessions, while K-water set up a feeder fund in 2018, which has invested a total of KRW 100.0billion so far to promote the interest and investments in water companies. K-water plans to create a feeder fund of KRW 430.0billion by investing KRW 100.0billion in its own fund for five years by 2025. In March, it launched the Chungcheong Innovation Venture Fund to raise KRW 130billion and as a result, it has invested in water companies and innovation businesses in the Chungcheong area. In addition, K-water also created the Southeast Region Innovation Venture Fund in November to raise KRW 120.0billion, and plans to start investing in local innovation companies in the Ulsan and Gyeongnam area. Side events concurrently held during the conference included running exhibition booths to help SMEs and venture startups directly engage potential investors and buyers, while offering one-on-one investment consultations and operating consulting booths for potential buyers.
K-water CEO Jae-hyeon Park said, “The water industry has great growth potential to beat the semiconductor industry in the future. We at K-water will actively strive to stimulate the water industry innovation ecosystem and create new growth engines. A goal of ours is to pave the way for Korean water companies to grow into global unicorn companies to lead the global water market and contribute to the growth of the Korean economy.”

※ This interview was conducted safely in compliance with the COVID-19 Quarantine Standard.