Woori Bank said Tuesday it will spend 2 billion won ($1.66 million) in the first national crowdfunding program to support small and medium-sized start-ups and facilitate crowdfunding sentiment in the local market.

“K-Crowd Fund” is the first national fund to support the Growth Ladder Fund, a government-funded program linking new start-ups with venture capital and other financial firms. 



Woori Bank will invest in Magellan Technology Investment, one of the three operators of the 20 billion won K-Crowd Fund, to help create initial capital for crowdfunding and provide additional capital for businesses that have succeeded in funding. The other two operators are Coolidge Corner Investment and Songhyun Investment.

The bank said it became Korea’s first private financial company to participate in the national crowdfunding program.

The government announced various plans in January to facilitate crowdfunding in Korea and one of them was the K-Crowd Fund program led by the Financial Services Commission.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)