[DigitalToday reporter Sangyeop Oh (오상엽)] Meritz Securities said on Tuesday it invested 40 billion won in hydrogen fuel cell company Mico Power by forming a new technology business investment fund jointly with new technology finance firm AFWP (AFW Partners).

It said it was Meritz Securities' first venture capital investment carried out in 2026 and that it selected a key company in the hydrogen industry value chain, one of 12 national strategic industries.

Mico Power is the only company in South Korea that holds original technology covering the entire process for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).

Globally, about 5 companies including U.S. company Bloom Energy are known to hold original SOFC technology that can be commercialised, and Mico Power is the only one in South Korea.

Recently, it became the first in South Korea to obtain certification for the localisation of power-generation SOFC facilities and has been participating in government-led renewable energy projects one after another.

The investment was 추진 led by Meritz Securities' new technology finance team as the central axis.

Meritz Securities' new technology finance team has achieved cumulative assets under management of 868.5 billion won since forming its first fund in February 2018, serving as a supplier of venture capital to the market.

A Meritz Securities official said it has actively invested in artificial intelligence (AI) companies such as FuriosaAI and SemiFive, and in bio and materials, parts and equipment companies such as ImmuneOncia, Simtec and Neosem, and that the latest investment is expanding its scope by deploying venture capital into the hydrogen industry, a national strategic industry.