The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on the 7th that it hosted an investor matchmaking event at the Oakwood Premier at COEX in Seoul to connect food-tech and green-bio companies with investors.
The event broadened participation to include everyone from early-stage startups to mid-sized firms. Organizers designed the program to go beyond simple briefings and to spark real investment conversations.
The ministry and the Agricultural Policy Insurance & Finance Service co-hosted the event. Forty food-tech and green-bio companies and 11 investment firms took part. Rather than a typical IR format where only a few firms present, the organizers set up simultaneous sessions so many companies could meet investors at once. Firms recommended by local governments and related organizations pitched their business models directly; participants were chosen based on technological capability and growth potential.
The lineup spanned core food-tech areas such as plant-based and cell-cultured foods, and covered green-bio sectors from seeds and microbes to natural products. Companies ranged from those founded less than seven years ago to businesses already at the mass-production stage. Attendees discussed stage-by-stage investment needs for technology validation and scaling production. Organizers said they will continue follow-up exchanges so the event doesn’t end up as a one-off.
They also highlighted success stories. One company that developed plant-based vegan cheese technology secured KRW 5.5 billion (approximately $4,125,000) from the Agri-Food Fund and has since emerged as a potential unicorn. Another built an automated herbal-pharmaceuticals system using natural ingredients, raised KRW 4.0 billion (approximately $3,000,000), and won a CES Innovation Award. These examples show how investment and technology commercialization can reinforce one another.
Jeong Kyung-seok, the ministry’s director of food industry policy, said, “We will continue supporting the growth of food-tech and green-bio through a private-sector-led ecosystem.”
Hyoju Park
