ICONLOOP has received investment from South Korea’s state-invested funds-of-funds management corporation.

The Korea Growth Investment Corporation (K-Growth) invested KRW 6.5 billion, or about USD 5.4 million, in six companies through a fintech innovation fund.

The six companies are ICONLOOP, PuzzleData, RabbitFinance, AIZEN Global, Music and Fount.

In addition to direct investment, K-Growth provides other forms of support to startups and SMEs, including deal sourcing and introducing startups to investment companies and banks.

An official from K-Growth said that with many companies having difficulty securing investment in the COVID-19 era, the fund-of-fund’s move would be a decisive opportunity for fintech startups to create new opportunities for cooperation with legacy financial institutions.

The six companies are market leaders in their particular fields of fintech. In ICONLOOP’s case, that would be blockchain-based DID.

And speaking of blockchain-based DID…

A Financial Services Commission (FSC) task force tasked with overhauling the South Korean financial sector’s ID system held its first meeting on Monday.

Composed of officials from the Financial Supervisory Service, Financial Security Institute, Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute and financial security experts, the task force discussed the need to build a system that can support ID mechanisms to secure convenience, safety and security in financial transactions.

South Korea is expected to see intense competition between authentication services in the wake of the parliament’s recent passage of revisions to the country’s Digital Signature Act.

The FSC is testing several ID and authentication-related services through its regulatory sandbox.

One of those services is ICONLOOP’s blockchain-based DID protocol MyID, which lies at the heart of the sprawling MyID Alliance authentication ecosystem.

ICONLOOP’s Communication Team Lead Minhwan Kim said: 

“Since its launch in 2016, ICONLOOP has grown to become South Korea’s largest blockchain-focused company with around 140 employees.

The company provides blockchain platforms, technologies, and solutions to leading financial and public institutions in South Korea, proving its technological excellence.  Also MyID, a digital ID authentication platform from ICONLOOP has been recognized as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission.

ICONLOOP is preparing to lead innovation in not only the fintech industry but various other blockchain-based industries.”