Singapore’s CapBridge secures $4m from Korea’s Hanwha

CapBridge Group, a Singapore-based private markets platform, announced a US$4 million investment from South Korea’s Hanwha Investment and Securities for a stake in the company.

Hanwha Investment and Securities CEO Kwon Hee-baek (left) and CapBridge founder and CEO Johnson Chen at the partnership agreement signing ceremony in Seoul, South Korea / Photo credit: CapBridge

The partnership aims to further promote growth of the private markets ecosystem in South Korea and Southeast Asia, CapBridge said in a statement.

Under the deal, pre-IPO, family-owned, and growth-stage companies in South Korea and Asia can now work with Hanwha and the CapBridge private markets platform to connect with international investors.

“Together with Hanwha, we will also work on developing more innovative financial services and products for the global private markets,” said Johnson Chen, founder and CEO of CapBridge.

Hanwha, which is a member of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, provides comprehensive asset management services, including brokerage and acquisition of stocks, bonds, and derivatives.

CapBridge offers companies solutions to access private markets for capital and a liquidity pathway via a private listing on 1exchange. CapBridge and 1exchange – Singapore’s first regulated private securities exchange – form a global private markets ecosystem, with Singapore Exchange as a shareholder and strategic partner, the statement said.

According to McKinsey & Co, the private equities market in South Korea is the third-largest in Asia, poised for more growth. Global and local acquisitions and the private capital committed have been steadily increasing, and returns from private equity have significantly outstripped the public market.

CapBridge said investors interested in participating in private equity fundraises can find such opportunities on its platform. Individual investors can gain access to private equity via the Preferred Access route, from as low as S$5,000.