Fund to invest in venture capital firms

The managing committee of the Cabinet's National Development Fund (國發基金) yesterday approved a total investment of NT$3.215 billion (US$104.67 million) in five venture capital startups.

The fund will spend NT$600 million to take up a 40 percent stake in a venture capital firm managed by Pac-Link Bio Venture Capital Investment Corp (生揚創投) under the Yulon Group (裕隆集團) that will focus on biotechnology and new pharmaceutical investments, a statement posted on the National Development Fund Web site said.

It said the fund's managing committee also agreed to invest NT$800 million to take up a 40 percent stake in another biotech-focused venture capital firm run by TTY Biopharm Co (台灣東洋藥品).

The managing committee also earmarked NT$240 million for a 30 percent stake in a venture capital arm of Everfame Consultants Ltd (永裕顧問) focusing on traditional manufacturing and technology investments, while allocating NT$875 million for a 25 percent stake in a venture capital subsidiary of local biotech firm TaiMed Inc (台懋公司).

TaiMed established and chaired by former vice premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who teamed up with AIDS research pioneer David Ho (何大一) to form the company. Jointly owned by the government and private investors, TaiMed aims to speed up research into the development of AIDS drugs.

"The fund sees a lot of potential in these venture capital enterprises, based on the past performance of their management teams," the fund's deputy executive director James Ho (何俊輝) told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview yesterday.

Separately, the fund's managing committee yesterday also decided to invest NT$400 million in a Taiwan-India investment company and inject NT$310 million in capital into ADImmune Corp, also known as Kuo Kwang Biotechnology Company (國光生物科技), the statement said.