| Hanwha logo in front of the company headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times file |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Hanwha Group has been investing aggressively in fintech and blockchain companies such as Toss Bank and Dunamu, as seen by the recent decision to reinvest in Lambda256, a subsidiary of Dunamu.
Hanwha Systems took part in a 70 billion won Series B investment in Lambda256, Monday, a blockchain service developer for Dunamu ― and is said to have invested 10 billion won in total. Other investors in Lambda256 include the new private equity fund VTI Partners, Woori Technology Investment, KB Investment, Bokwang Startup Investment, DSC Investment, Shinhan Venture Investment, NH Financial Group and SBI Investment.
“Hanwha Systems is set to specify blockchain-based platform business plans targeting both domestic and overseas markets with Lambda256,” a company official said. “We cannot disclose the details of the specific projects for the time being.”
Lambda256 operates Upbit, a cryptocurrency asset exchange. Hanwha Systems also took part in the Series A funding round earlier this year.
Lambda256, Dunamu's blockchain subsidiary, was spun off in March 2019 and commercialized Luniverse, a cloud-based blockchain service platform. The Luniverse platform provides various development tools so that the people can easily use blockchain technology without needing specialized skills.
"We have grown together with customers by solving performance, usability and scalability problems encountered when applying blockchain with domestic and foreign customers and adding various new requirements to Luniverse. The funds will be actively used to secure talented people, and expand domestic and overseas businesses and the Luniverse ecosystem,” Lambda256 CEO Park Jae-hyun said.
Hanwha Group's aggressive investment in Lambda256 represents the firm's strong drive to invest in the blockchain and crypto asset markets, which started with Dunamu.
This year, Hanwha Investment & Securities acquired a 6.15 percent stake in Dunamu from Qualcomm. At the time, the total cost was less than 60 billion won, but the value of the stake soared as the value of Dunamu surged recently.
Financial officials believes Dunamu's market value is estimated at around 15 trillion won to 20 trillion won and that Hanwha's 6 percent stake is valued at 1 trillion won to 1.5 trillion won.
Hanwha Life Insurance Vice President Kim Dong-won, the second son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, has been pushing for blockchain- and fintech-driven businesses for the group's future growth in the financial sector.
| Kim Dong-won |
“We were reviewing taking part in the Series B, although the Series A investment was made by Hanwha Systems,” a Hanwha Asset Management official said.
His active participation in the investment ― to change the investor from Hanwha Systems to Hanwha Asset Management ― shows Kim's solid foothold within Hanwha Group's financial businesses.
The recent large-scale investment in Toss bank could be seen as an extension to the group's financial investment drive.
After acquiring a 7.5 percent stake in Toss Bank for 7.5 billion won last year, the company acquired an additional 30 billion won in Tossbank stock in October, increasing its stake to 8.86 percent. As Toss Bank's corporate value is estimated at upwards of 10 trillion won, the value of Hanwha Investment & Securities' Toss Bank's stake is expected to reach 1 trillion won.
“As long as fintech and blockchain are set as future business engines, active investment will continue,” an industry official said.