Wadiz Partners Accelerates Nurturing New Brands... Selected as Private Operator for 'LIPS II'
Wadiz Partners Accelerates Nurturing New Brands... Selected as Private Operator for 'LIPS II'
- Wadiz Partners, 3rd Year as LIPS I Organizer, Selected for LIPS II and Recognized as Lifestyle-Specialized VC
- Brands Invested by Wadiz Partners: 20+ Companies with Combined 2024 Sales Reaching 41 Billion Won... 45% Growth YoY
"Strengthening Our Role as a Growth Partner for Emerging Brands Through Co-developed Product Launches and Global Expansion"
Wadiz is expected to accelerate its support for emerging brand development in the lifestyle sector.
Wadiz (CEO: Shin Hye-sung, www.wadiz.kr) announced on the 27th that its investment subsidiary Wadiz Partners (CEO: So Kang-sup) has been selected as a private operator for the '2025 Innovative Small Business Investment Matching Support Project (LIPS II, hereinafter LIPS 2)'.
LIPS 2 is a program in which private investment companies designated by the Small Business Development Agency under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups make pre-investments in promising small business operators and recommend them, after which the Ministry provides matching support for commercialization funds. Management funds up to 3 times the private investment amount, capped at 200 million won, are provided, and the maximum number of supported businesses this year is 300.
Wadiz Partners was selected as the organizing institution for the private investment-linked matching loan business (LIPS I, hereinafter LIPS 1) from 2023 and is operating the business for its third year. LIPS 1 is a business that provides matching policy funds up to 5 times the investment amount, capped at 500 million won, to small business operators when private investment companies make pre-investments, and the budget for this year is around 40 billion won.
Following Wadiz Partners' selection as the organizing institution for LIPS 1 in 2023, it has now been selected as a private operator for LIPS 2, and is being recognized as a venture investment company specialized in nurturing entrepreneurial small business operators in the lifestyle sector.
Additionally, Wadiz Partners jointly established the 'LICORN Fund' with Lotte Home Shopping last year, and as the operator, plans to focus on investing in and nurturing lifestyle and local brands with high growth potential. Wadiz Partners was previously selected as the first operator (GP) of the 'LICORN Fund' newly established with government matching funds in 2024.
Companies invested by Wadiz Partners are growing rapidly. The 2024 sales of 20 emerging brands selected for the 'NextBrand' program, which Wadiz Partners operates, grew 45% year-over-year, reaching 41 billion won and continuing to show growth.
So Kang-sup, CEO of Wadiz Partners, stated: "With the selection as a private operator for LIPS 2, we expect that promising companies invested in by Wadiz Partners will be able to secure operational funds to focus on innovative product development and content research and development," and added: "In particular, this year, through Wadiz Global Services, we plan to strengthen our role as a growth partner for emerging brands by launching and expanding overseas the products jointly developed by Wadiz and NextBrand within the first half of this year."