KIBO, SNU Holdings to Sign Startup Investment Pact on Oct. 6

KIBO, the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, and SNU Holdings — Seoul National University's technology holding company — will sign a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 6 to jointly back early-stage startups, the two institutions said on Oct. 5.

Venture capital industry sources disclosed the signing on the eve of the ceremony. An official at SNU's technology holding company said the two sides would "sign an agreement to support startup companies."

The pact pulls a state-backed policy finance institution into closer alignment with one of Korea's most active university startup pipelines.

What does the MOU cover?

Under the memorandum, the two institutions will cooperate on early-stage startup investment and financing. Both already run venture investment operations. The agreement is expected to include a provision for each side to refer promising startups from its own portfolio to the other.

The aim: help portfolio companies with growth potential widen their access to risk capital and raise funds more easily.

• Joint identification of early-stage investment targets from the scouting stage onward
• Shared due diligence and co-investment
• Reciprocal referrals of portfolio companies
• Joint review of venture investment-linked guarantees and possible preferential support programs

The two are already investing jointly in several startups, according to the sources. Rather than simply passing each other companies they have already backed, the institutions will work together from the search stage, sharing each side's expertise in deal sourcing.

How does the guarantee mechanism work?

The institutions are also exploring additional policy financing support. The most actively considered option is KIBO's venture investment-linked guarantee program.

• KIBO issues a guarantee certificate for a company that has received investment from a venture capital firm
• A lender can then extend a loan to that borrower
• The guarantee covers 100% of the loan

The earlier a company's stage, the fewer assets it has to pledge as collateral. A guarantee from a policy finance institution effectively substitutes for that collateral. The venture investment-linked guarantee is designed to help companies whose growth prospects have been validated by venture capital firms secure debt capital without raising another investment round.

The two institutions are said to be discussing options including jointly reviewing guarantee applications or setting up a preferential support program tailored to SNU-affiliated companies.

Why does the pairing matter?

The deal brings together two complementary pieces of Korea's venture ecosystem. KIBO operates as a state-backed policy lender whose mandate is to fill funding gaps in the technology startup market. SNU Holdings channels research and talent from one of the country's top research universities into commercial ventures.

By linking the two, founders emerging from SNU's pipeline gain a more direct route to both equity capital and debt financing. The 100% guarantee coverage removes a key barrier for lenders weighing very early-stage borrowers, where collateral is scarce and credit histories are thin.

For KIBO, the partnership delivers a higher-quality deal flow filtered through a brand-name university's vetting process. For SNU, it offers portfolio companies a credible path to non-dilutive financing at a stage when equity rounds are hardest to close.

What happens next?

The Oct. 6 ceremony will mark the formal start of the framework. The sources did not disclose deal sizes, fund commitments, or a timeline for the first jointly backed company. The guarantee program's operating terms — including the volume of loans KIBO expects to back and the criteria for a "preferential" program — also remain unspecified.

If the partnership scales as outlined, it could compress the path from SNU laboratory to commercial revenue for a steady stream of founders, while giving policy lenders a new channel to deploy guarantees into Korea's deep-technology supply chain.