Woori Financial Group is stepping up support for the growth of innovative companies based on a 7 trillion won productive investment plan. It plans to build a linked support system spanning startup discovery, early investment, follow-on investment, scale-up and initial public offerings to meet funding needs by growth stage.

Woori Financial on Monday held the 2026 WFRI Conference and a press briefing under the theme, "The future of innovation drawn by productive finance". Woori Financial is pursuing the "Future Shared Growth Project". It is pushing 90 trillion won in productive and inclusive finance over five years and is detailing a 7 trillion won productive investment plan within it.

Woori Financial Chairman Lim Jong-ryong (임종룡) said the group will help startups and youth-led companies, which he called South Korea's future growth engines, secure the investments and business opportunities they need. He said creating an environment where innovative startups and youth-led companies can grow outside the capital area is the starting point for balanced regional development.

◆ A growth ladder linking DinnoLab, CVC, VC and IPO

Woori Financial has built a "linked venture capital supply system" spanning the full corporate growth process from startup scouting to follow-on investment, scale-up and IPOs. Early-stage companies are supported through DinnoLab funds of less than 50 billion won. Growth-stage companies receive investment through group corporate venture capital funds of less than 100 billion won. In the scale-up and pre-IPO stages, Woori Venture Partners and Woori Investment & Securities, which run funds of 100 billion won or more, are responsible for large-scale investment and IPO support.

The key is linking the group's investment functions and capital markets functions so support providers do not drop out at each growth stage. It aims to create a financial support structure that goes beyond scouting and fostering early-stage companies to include follow-on investment, market entry and listing preparations.

The number of startups scouted and fostered through Woori Financial's startup incubation platform DinnoLab over the past seven years totals 231. The group's cumulative startup investment amounts to 470 billion won. DinnoLab funds are also expanding. Woori Financial formed the first DinnoLab fund worth 5 billion won in 2024 and invested in eight companies. In 2025, it invested in 12 companies through a second fund worth 10 billion won. The third fund formed in April this year aims to support a total of 20 companies with 20 billion won.

The group's CVC funds support the subsequent growth of promising companies discovered through DinnoLab. Woori Financial formed a first fund worth 50 billion won in 2022 and invested in 34 companies, and is currently pushing to form a second fund worth 70 billion won.

A panel discussion also highlighted the need for such linked financing. Park Jeong-hoon (박정훈), head of the Woori Financial Management Research Institute, said the role of venture capital does not end with a single investment and that startup growth requires not only funding but also business collaboration and securing market references.

Lee Kyung-min (이경민), head of the New Technology Finance Department at Woori Financial Capital, said what matters most in venture capital supply is an effective, continuous supply. He said the group is considering a method that supports early-stage companies through DinnoLab funds and then links support through CVC funds and Woori Venture Partners to IPO support by Woori Investment & Securities.

He stressed that it is important to let funds flow naturally while helping each affiliate's business and fulfilling its core role.

Cheon Ji-woong (천지웅), head of the VC group at Woori Venture Partners, said the role of venture investment is to buy time until innovative technology matures. He said even if early technology is not immediately commercialised, continuous financial support must continue for it to be used in the market later.

Lee Byung-heon (이병헌), head of the PE division at PE Asset Management, said startups are entities that present solutions to problems existing companies have not solved and create new markets. He said supplying funds to new growth engines that traditional finance has not sufficiently covered is the role of productive finance.

◆ Expanding regional hubs... strengthening discovery of startups outside the capital area

Woori Financial is also strengthening regional startup incubation. DinnoLab centres are currently operating at seven locations: two in Seoul and in South Gyeongsang Province, North Chungcheong Province, Busan, North Jeolla Province and Vietnam. Among them, hubs outside the capital area in South Gyeongsang, North Chungcheong, Busan and North Jeolla are tasked with linking discovery and investment in regional innovative companies with business collaboration.

The share of regional startup discoveries is also rising. Since 2024, regional startups scouted and fostered by DinnoLab total 69, accounting for about 66 percent of newly selected companies over the same period. Among cumulative investment cases since DinnoLab funds began operating, the share of non-capital-area companies was tallied at 55 percent.

The panel discussion also produced calls to widen investment opportunities for regional startups. Lee said the issue is not that regions lack good companies but that there are fewer opportunities for investors and companies, and for financial firms and companies, to meet. He said expanding touchpoints between companies and finance through regional DinnoLab centres could be an effective way to revitalise regional economies.

◆ Diversifying exit markets, affiliate collaboration also a task

A point was also raised that for the venture capital ecosystem to function stably, not only investment but also revitalising exit markets is needed.

Park Sung-min (박성민), head of the Investment Banking Division at Woori Bank, cited dependence on policy funds and the limits of exit markets as challenges for the venture capital ecosystem. He said if early-stage startup funding is skewed toward policy funding, investment can become conservative, making it necessary for private-sector investment to be more active. He also suggested diversifying exit markets through secondary funds and continuation funds in addition to IPOs.

Full-package financial support through collaboration among affiliates was also presented as a strength of Woori Financial. Banks play the roles of limited partner investors and corporate finance providers, while the capital unit and Woori Venture Partners handle investment functions by growth stage. The securities unit supports IPOs and fundraising in public offering markets, and PE Asset Management supplies additional investment and business expansion funds for growth companies.

Park said combining senior loans from banks and insurers, mezzanine and junior loans from securities firms, and deal sourcing and structuring capabilities of asset management and VC and PE can provide a full-package investment structure to corporate customers.

At the group level, executives from affiliates hold a monthly council on promoting CIB synergy to share market trends and discuss collaboration measures. Woori Financial plans to use the conference as an opportunity to expand productive finance centred on investment and capital markets and accelerate financial support tailored to the growth stages of innovative companies. It will also discuss measures for financial support for innovative companies through a monthly group council involving the holding company and affiliates, called the Advanced Strategic Industries Finance Council.

Park, head of the Woori Financial Management Research Institute, said 2026 is the first year that Woori Financial Group's venture capital supply system begins full operations, and that the institute will strengthen its role as the group's think tank to be a reliable partner in the growth journey of innovative companies.