Link to Business Times Article

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA & SINGAPORE, 9 MARCH 2021: 1982 Ventures, a leading early stage venture capital firm in Southeast Asia, has entered a strategic partnership with three leading South Korean investors Infobank (039290: KOSDAQ), C&Venture Partners and BTC Investment.

• Parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in order to pursue strategic collaboration in pursuing investments in Korea and Southeast Asia, leveraging their respective resources to support market entry for Korean startups into Southeast Asia.
• The partnership will provide the South Korean investors local support in Southeast Asia as the investors expand to new markets, while ensuring 1982 Ventures has a strong partner on the ground in Korea to deepen its ties to the Korean startup ecosystem.

The three South Korean investors collaborated as the steering committee in a market entry program with KILSA Global Pte Ltd to help Korean startups brought by the investors to expand to Southeast Asia. Partnerships from the market entry program endeavours to continuously build end-to-end engagements of the startup ecosystem between Korea and Singapore from investments to commercialization in the local markets in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Moonkyu Lee, Managing Director of C&Venture Partners the designated personnel representing the South Korean investors stated, “We are pleased to announce our MOU partnership with 1982 Ventures to pursue strategic collaboration in pursuing investments in Korea and Southeast Asia, strengthening our capabilities to execute in the region’s high growth markets.”  He continued, “1982 Ventures has demonstrated leadership in early stage investing in Southeast Asia. Their expertise in fintech was key in selecting their firm as our long-term VC fund partner.”

1982 Ventures is a Singapore licensed fund management company focused on early stage fintech in Southeast Asia.  Herston Powers, Managing Partner, of 1982 Ventures stated, “We are honoured and excited to partner with this group of leading South Korean investors to provide access to Southeast Asia and for our market entry into Korea. Infobank, C&Venture Partners and BTC investments collective leadership in technology and venture capital in Korea will ensure 1982 Ventures is well positioned to leverage the Korean startup ecosystem.”  He continued, “An increasing number of Korean investors and startups are starting to see the significant market opportunity in Southeast Asia and are looking for partners such as 1982 Ventures to support their market entry.”

Southeast Asia represents a once in a generation of opportunity with half a billion consumers waiting for financial services.  The region is experiencing rapid urbanization and has some of the world’s highest technology adoption and mobile and internet penetration rates.  Southeast Asian fintech startups represent more than 10 billion USD in unrealized value, with 100 projected fintech exits in the coming years (Dealroom).

The Korean venture capital industry had a banner year in 2020 with nearly 4 billion USD invested in startups.  Korea leads the world innovation in the latest Bloomberg Innovation Index, ranking in the top five globally by number of unicorns.  These technology firms are now expanding to Southeast Asia alongside Korean investors to build the region’s next generation of unicorns.

‍About Infobank, C&Ventures and BTC Investment

‍Infobank, a KOSDAQ listed company specializing in messaging services with an investment portfolio of 120 companies; C&Venture Partners, an early stage investment firm that invests in the fields of 5G, IoT, Digital Health, Cloud and Big Data; and BTC Investment, an investor in innovative early stage blockchain and fintech companies.

‍