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Founded in 2018, Join&Join is a food-tech company that operates "Nuldam," a brand of high-functional health and vegan desserts. CEO Jin Hae-su, who majored in biotechnology, launched the company as a college student based on technology that replaces milk and eggs with plant-based ingredients. The business has grown by targeting health-conscious consumers beyond the vegan market.
A turning point in the company's growth came with its 2021 encounter with NH NongHyup Bank. At the time, Join&Join was at the Series A stage, remaining a startup operating small-scale production facilities. Jin, who was working hard to secure additional investment, met NH NongHyup Bank's Agri-Food Growth Investment Group at a startup investor relations (IR) event.
NH NongHyup Bank highly valued Join&Join's technological capabilities and growth potential. An official from the Agri-Food Growth Investment Group said, "The vegan food market may be limited, but we saw significant potential for desserts to expand into the mass market," adding, "The fact that Join&Join's technology could lower unit costs was also an important factor in the investment decision."
Soon after, NH NongHyup Bank decided to invest about 2 billion won through the NH Now Agri-Food Fund. Based on this investment, Join&Join expanded its factory and upgraded its production facilities. Meeting with the Seoul Economic Daily on the 2nd at its headquarters in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Jin said, "Without NongHyup Bank's investment, the Join&Join of today would not exist," adding, "As a result of establishing our own production base and focusing on technology development, we successfully turned a profit in the first half of this year."
Indeed, Join&Join built a system for direct development, production, and distribution rather than original equipment manufacturing (OEM). It lowered costs while boosting profitability, recording average monthly sales of about 4 billion won over the past three months and an operating profit margin of around 16%. NH NongHyup Bank's timely investment created a company now targeting 50 billion won in annual sales.
Join&Join is a leading example of a company that has grown with support from NH NongHyup Bank's agri-food investment fund. NH NongHyup Bank is the only bank in the sector operating an agri-food fund. The Agri-Food Growth Investment Group serves as the fund's general partner (GP), directly discovering and investing in agri-food companies with high growth potential. Only NH NongHyup Bank and IBK Industrial Bank of Korea serve as GPs among banks.
As of the end of June this year, NH NongHyup Bank's agri-food funds had completed investments of 198.7 billion won through a total of eight funds. Cumulative commitments stand at 344.1 billion won, and investments of the remaining funds are set to proceed sequentially.
Lee Young-woo, deputy president of NH NongHyup Bank's Agriculture and Public Finance Division, said, "Based on our experience as the only bank in the sector operating an agri-food fund, we are expanding financial support for innovative agri-food companies," adding, "We will not stop at simple investment but will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of our agri-food industry through links to policy funds and tailored financial support."
