Naver said on April 21 (local time) it held a briefing in New Delhi with Krafton and Mirae Asset on establishing the "Unicorn Growth Fund (UGF)" worth up to 1 trillion won.

The event was arranged to introduce the UGF to local companies and venture capital firms following President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to India. Attendees included Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Jeong-gwan Kim, Naver CEO Soo-yeon Choi, Krafton CEO Chang-han Kim, Krafton India head Hyun-il Son, Mirae Asset India Vice Chairman Swarup Mohanty and Mirae Asset Venture Investment India CEO Punit Kumar.

The UGF received an initial investment of 200 billion won from Krafton early this year. It began operations at more than 500 billion won including investments from Naver, Mirae Asset and external investors. It plans to expand to as much as 1 trillion won.

Naver CEO Soo-yeon Choi said, "The UGF will invest in India-focused AI, fintech and content technology companies, and will serve as a foundation for creating synergy by combining the three companies' core capabilities."

Krafton CEO Chang-han Kim said, "We will become a mid- to long-term partner that supports promising Indian companies in making a global leap." Minister Jeong-gwan Kim said, "We expect it to become a bridgehead for domestic companies entering emerging markets."

The fund follows the Asia Growth Fund (AGF), jointly created by Naver and Mirae Asset. The AGF invested in unicorn companies including India’s Zomato and Southeast Asia’s Grab.

Naver, meanwhile, signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT affiliate of India’s Tata Group, on April 20 and is identifying business opportunities.