Upstage, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, has been selected as the second recipient of direct investment from the National Growth Fund.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Friday that its National Growth Fund management review committee, held on the 30th of last month, approved a 560 billion won ($412 million) direct investment in Upstage, including 100 billion won from the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund, to support the development of next-generation AI models.
Upstage is a startup that develops AI solutions and large language models (LLMs) for corporate and government use. The company joined the ranks of unicorns, firms valued at more than 1 trillion won, after completing its Series C funding round last month. It is currently participating in the government's "Independent AI Foundation Model" project, competing with LG AI Research and SK Telecom.
"We expect the creation of a successful growth model for a domestic startup tech venture," the FSC said. "Through cooperation with a leading domestic portal company, Upstage will secure high-quality data and refine the performance of its Korean-specialized model."
The FSC also approved on the same day an equity investment for the construction of the National AI Computing Center within the Solaseado Data Center Park in Haenam County, South Jeolla Province. The project involves establishing a special purpose company (SPC) through a public-private partnership to build an advanced AI data center. With this investment approval, the funding of the SPC's 400 billion won capital has been finalized. The SPC plans to pursue additional loans of up to 2 trillion won going forward.
