Forty promising companies and 11 professional investment firms participated
From business-model presentations to follow-up investment discussions
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it hosted an investment networking event on the 7th at Oakwood Premier COEX in Seoul to help promising agrifood companies attract private capital and build industry connections.
Co-hosted with the Agricultural Policy Insurance and Finance Service, the meetup brought together 40 food‑tech and green‑bio companies alongside 11 professional investment management firms.
Rather than the usual roadshow format that spotlights only a few startups, this exchange gathered a larger group of companies and investors to widen funding opportunities and spark networking. Local governments and related organizations recommended firms in the food‑tech and green‑bio sectors that demonstrate strong technology and growth potential; those companies presented their business models at the event.
Food tech focused on 10 core areas: plant‑based foods, cell‑cultured foods, personalized nutrition, convenience foods, 3D food printing, food upcycling, smart food manufacturing, eco‑friendly packaging, smart food distribution, and restaurant‑innovation services. Green bio covered six fields: seeds, microbes, natural products, veterinary pharmaceuticals, insects, and food ingredients.
Participants ranged from startups less than seven years old to mid‑sized companies. They worked through concrete investment scenarios covering the full commercialization journey—from tech validation to mass production. Organizers emphasized creating ongoing channels for follow‑up talks so investor conversations can turn into real funding.
The ministry also highlighted success stories. One food‑tech firm that developed vegan‑cheese production using plant ingredients and fermentation received KRW 5.5 billion (about $4.13 million) from the Agri‑Food Fund in 2020 and 2022, and was named a pre‑unicorn in 2022. A green‑bio company that automated diagnosis‑to‑dispensing for herbal pharmaceutical products using natural ingredients secured KRW 4 billion (about $3 million) from the Agri‑Food Fund in 2023 and 2025, and won a CES 2025 Innovation Award.
“Startups rarely get direct access to professional investment managers,” a company representative who attended said. “Today we pitched our business model to several firms at once and agreed to continue practical investment talks.”
Jung Kyung‑seok, director of the Food Industry Policy Division at the ministry, said, “We will support the food‑tech and green‑bio industries so they can grow into global leaders in future food markets, built on private‑sector‑led industrial ecosystems.”
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