Woori Bank said on March 27 it signed an agreement with the Korea Technology Finance Corp on financing support for high-growth scale-up companies, and will work to strengthen the corporate growth ladder and expand productive finance.

Woori Bank said the agreement will help it pursue stable asset growth, focusing on high-tech and high-growth firms, and strengthen its role in productive finance in line with the government’s policy direction of restoring the “growth ladder.”

To that end, Woori Bank will contribute a total of 8 billion won to KODIT and supply 310 billion won in funding. When KODIT recommends to Woori Bank top firms that have undergone pre-evaluation through its promising innovative company development programmes, including Kibo-Star Valley and TECH Valley, the bank will provide swift funding of up to 10 billion won through guarantees by corporate growth stage.

It will also provide benefits to selected firms, including the application of a pre-set guarantee limit, a higher guarantee ratio from 85 percent to 100 percent, and support for guarantee fees of 0.8 percentage points.

“This agreement was prepared to help high-growth firms with strong technology that face difficulties in raising funds during their growth process make a leap forward and to expand productive finance,” said Bae Yeon-su (배연수), head of Woori Bank’s corporate group. “We will serve as a financial partner so that leading technology firms can grow into unicorn companies with global competitiveness through close cooperation with KODIT,” he said.