[Edaily Reporter KIM JI-WAN ] Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd(100790)has partnered with global accelerator SparkLabs Group and the Qazaqstan Investment Corporation (QIC), Kazakhstan’s state-owned fund of funds, to establish a global venture fund connecting South Korea and Central Asia.

Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd announced on the 16th that it has signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MOU) and a term sheet with SparkLabs Group and QIC to establish the “Mirae Asset-SparkLabs Silk Road Fund I.”

The signing ceremony took place during the exchange of commercial documents at the 14th Korea-Kazakhstan Business Council meeting held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on the 15th. Kim Eung-seok, Vice Chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd; Ivan Grlic, Managing Partner of SparkLabs Group; and Didar Karimsakov, CEO of QIC, signed the agreement.

This collaboration was initiated in conjunction with the 1st Korea-Central Asia Summit, held in Seoul on the 16th. A delegation of representatives from financial institutions under Baiterek, Kazakhstan’s state-owned investment holding company, visited Korea to coincide with the summit’s diplomatic schedule and held discussions on cooperation with domestic investment institutions; Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd. and SparkLabs Group also held a separate meeting on the 14th.

QIC is a fund of funds under Baiterek, Kazakhstan’s state-owned investment holding company. It supports the development of Kazakhstan’s technology and startup ecosystem by investing in private venture funds and other entities.

QIC is set to participate as the anchor limited partner (Anchor LP) in the newly established Silk Road Fund. BGlobal Ventures, a subsidiary of QIC, will serve as the fund’s advisor, while Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd. and SparkLabs Group will act as co-general partners (Co-GPs).

Target investment regions include South Korea, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the United States. Key investment sectors identified include artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure, enterprise software, fintech, healthcare, digital transformation, and mobility. The core objective is to establish a cross-border investment platform that supports both South Korean startups’ expansion into Central Asia and the Middle East and the entry of technology companies from those regions into global markets.

Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd is expanding its investment portfolio with a focus on domestic and international AI and advanced technology companies. In Korea, the firm has invested in companies such as Rebellion, Upstage, Exina, HyperExcel, and RealWorld, while its overseas portfolio includes Cohere (an enterprise AI model developer), Moonshot AI (a Chinese AI company), Genspark (an AI workspace provider), and Agibot (a Chinese humanoid robotics company). Moloco is also one of its major overseas portfolio companies.

Kim Eung-seok, CEO of Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co., Ltd, stated, “This agreement marks the first instance of a domestic venture capital firm establishing a fund jointly with a Central Asian sovereign wealth fund,” adding, “Using the formation of this fund as a springboard, we will further expand our investments not only in the dynamically growing Central Asian region but also in key global hubs such as North America, thereby solidifying our position as a global investor.”