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Characters created by Galaxy Corp. |
Shinhan Financial Group said Wednesday it has decided to invest 18 billion won ($15.1 million) into three startups offering cutting-edge technologies as part of its bigger plan to boost the group’s digital capabilities.
Three startups that attracted the funding include Galaxy Corp. which owns intellectual property rights to virtual characters for metaverse platforms as well as Xinapse, an artificial intelligence technology-based startup.
Shinhan plans to collaborate with the firms to enhance engagement with future customers and invigorate its digital services.
It also made an investment into Balaan, e-commerce platform selling luxurious goods in a bid to increase online traffic and transaction volume of the group’s key platforms of its affiliates such as Shinhan Bank’s digital banking platform Shinhan SOL and Shinhan Card’s new mobile app Shinhan pLay.
The exact amount of the funds to each startup was not disclosed.
The 18 billion won worth investment is a part of a 300 billion-won fund formed by major group affiliates in April.
Through the group’s first digital strategic investment fund, Shinhan seeks to embrace digital disruption and leverage these changes.
“We plan to continue making strategic digital investments to strengthen our response to big tech and leap forward as a leading digital platform company,” the firm said in a statement.
Since April, Shinhan has invested 140 billion won into companies in the non-financial sectors. Its portfolio firms include delivery agency service provider Insung Data and autonomous transportation service startup 42dot.
By Park Han-na (
hnpark@heraldcorp.com)
