On April 8, KAIST signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Yozma Group, an Israeli venture capital firm, to support KAIST-based startups and facilitate entrepreneurial culture on campus. Under the MoU, Yozma Group will implement startup acceleration programs and invest in businesses launched by KAIST faculty, students, and alumni. The two parties are currently discussing the establishment of Yozma Group’s branch office on campus for more effective cooperation.

Created in 1993 as an Israeli government initiative, the Yozma Fund offered better taxation policies to foreign venture-capital investors in Israel and promised to double any investment with government funds. Today, Yozma Group is often credited with rejuvenating the country’s economy and helping Israel become known as “a startup nation” — the country boasts the largest number of startups per capita in the world.

The firm opened its Korean branch in 2014, aiming to bring global venture capitals’ attention to Korean startups. Yigal Erlich, the chairman of The Yozma Group, said, “I often see Korean venture companies with the world's best ideas and technologies staying in the domestic market without knowing that they are ‘swans’. I want to help these fledgling startups realize that…they have great potential to mature into ‘swans’.” To achieve this goal, Erlich believes that Korean startups should go global from the start rather than inhibiting their growth by focusing exclusively on the local market.

The firm has recently launched a 70 million USD fund to support young companies in Korea and Israel. Using its funds, global acceleration experience, and a network of 400 research and development centers, Yozma Group intends to help promising KAIST startups enter overseas markets. Moreover, the agreement establishes cooperation and technological exchange between KAIST and the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel’s leading multidisciplinary basic research institution. 

During the signing ceremony, President Kwang Hyung Lee stated that “startup and technology commercialization are the crucial areas where KAIST will make innovations”, and “cooperation with Yozma Group will help KAIST startups transform their ideas and technologies into real businesses and build a global presence”.