이 기사는 2019년 11월 12일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea's SK Group held hands with state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) to create a social impact fund aimed at nurturing social impact start-ups.

According to industry sources on November 4, Happynarae, a social enterprise founded by SK, will launch a 45 billion won fund aimed at nurturing start-ups with a focus on addressing social issues or social impact start-ups by the end of this month.

SK Group will commit 10 billion won to the fund, while the state-run lender will contribute 20 billion won. Other commercial banks, institutions and investors will also inject in the fund.

South Korea's impact venture capital firm Yellowdog will manage the fund. The venture capital firm was established in 2016 by Lee Jae-woong, founder of Daum Communications. Yellowdog is committed to contribute to solving social challenges together by supporting social impact enterprises.

In early 2018, SK Group launched a 13 billion won social impact fund with KEB Hana Bank. The fund was the first of its kind in the industry and was managed by IBK Securities. After that, SK Group teamed up with Shinhan Financial Group to create a 20 billion won fund in late 2018.

Like the two previous funds did, the latest fund also will construct its portfolio with social impact enterprises. Interested start-ups must meet strict criteria. For example, the previous funds were used to help scale up start-ups that create jobs for vulnerable groups and specialize in deploying artificial intelligence (AI) for job hunting.

SK Group has been focusing on social values and the growth of enterprises devoted to social causes. In line with this, the company hosted its first social impact event, 'SOVAC (Social Value Connect) 2019' in May to promote a variety of social impact enterprises.

"[SK] aims to create fund that support and nurture social impact enterprises every year by partnering with financial institutions. The latest fund also is formed to meet the goal and it will invest in social impact enterprises with a thorough assessment and share achievements with investors," said an SK Group official.

(By reporters Choi Eun-jin and Kim Byung-yoon)