Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund

What Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund does

Korea Social Value and Solidarity Foundation (재단법인 한국사회가치연대기금, DBA: SVS) is a public interest foundation established in January 2019 as Korea's first social finance wholesale fund. Operating from its Seoul headquarters, SVS provides catalytic capital, loans, and equity investments to social economy enterprises (SEOs) and social purpose projects that cannot access traditional bank financing due to lack of collateral, unconventional governance structures, or below-market returns. The foundation structures its activities across three business areas: (1) Social Economy Enterprise Investment & Lending — direct and indirect financing for social ventures and impact-oriented startups; (2) Social Purpose Project Investment & Lending — funding for time-bound initiatives addressing social problems; and (3) Social Finance Infrastructure Development — intermediary capacity building, research publishing, and international cooperation.

SVS does not develop proprietary technology products; its operational foundation consists of capital allocation infrastructure, research publications (SVS Insight series, annual SVS Impact reports, translated UNRISD and GSG Impact frameworks), and event programming (annual Social Finance Summit, policy forums, webinars). Capital is distributed exclusively through a wholesale model via a vetted network of approximately 20 social finance intermediaries (SFIs) — including regional funds, mutual aid operators, credit unions, and impact fund managers — who on-lend to end beneficiaries. As of 2024, cumulative investment and loans pledged reached 15,960 million KRW across 40 deals, supporting 321 social economy organizations. SVS's go-to-market is event-driven and ecosystem-relationship based, with annual intermediary recruitment calls, investor IR sessions, and conference participation serving as primary engagement channels.

The foundation is governed as a non-profit foundation corporation (business registration 217-82-11718) with no parent company, funded by founding contributions from consumer cooperatives, credit unions, and commercial banks. It holds designation as the Korean national partner of GSG Impact and participates in international networks including GSEF and UNTFSSE. SVS actively advocates for the Social Solidarity Economy Basic Law and partners with 14 local government social economy funds across Korea. Leadership transitioned in November 2025 with Ha Seung-chang appointed as Chairman following the passing of Kim Hyun-de.

Name

Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund

Legal name

재단법인 한국사회가치연대기금

Website

https://svsfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Korea Social Value and Solidarity Foundation (SVS) is Korea's first social finance wholesale fund, providing catalytic capital, loans, and equity investments to social economy enterprises and social purpose projects through a network of approximately 20 vetted intermediary organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Finance / Impact Investing

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Impact Investment & Social Finance Programs (BPADAOAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Technical Assistance, Policy Lending & Capacity Building Programs (BPADACAN), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Social finance
• Impact investing
• Wholesale fund
• Social economy financing
• Community development capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Social Finance Wholesale Funding: SVS provides wholesale loans, equity investments, and fund capital to social finance intermediary organizations (SFIs), social impact funds, and social economy enterprises. Repayment flows back to the foundation for reinvestment, creating a revolving fund structure. The foundation also receives contributions and endowments from founding members including consumer cooperatives, credit unions, and commercial banks.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund (SVS) is a nonprofit foundation that operates as Korea's first and only social finance wholesale fund, providing catalytic patient capital through three core areas: (1) direct and indirect investment and lending to social economy enterprises including social ventures and impact-oriented startups, (2) financing for social purpose projects that solve or prevent social problems, and (3) social finance infrastructure development including intermediary capacity building, research and publishing, and international cooperation. The foundation channels its wholesale capital exclusively through a vetted network of social finance intermediary organizations rather than lending directly to end borrowers.

Product overview

Korea Social Value Solidarity Foundation operates as a wholesale social finance institution established in January 2019, providing a three-part product portfolio: (1) Social Economy Enterprise Investment & Lending — direct and indirect financing for social ventures and impact startups; (2) Social Purpose Project Investment & Lending — funding for projects solving social problems; and (3) Social Finance Infrastructure Development — ecosystem building through intermediary capacity development, research publishing (including the SVS Insight series, SVS Trend Reports, SVS Trend Focus briefs, and translated publications of UNRISD and GSG Impact frameworks), and international cooperation. The foundation positions itself as a catalytic capital provider that channels funds through social finance intermediaries to reach social economy enterprises and projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SVS Fund: Abbreviated name for the foundation used in publications and programs
• SVS 인사이트
• SVS Trend Focus

Products and services

• Social Economy Enterprise Investment & Lending (사회적경제기업 투융자) Direct and indirect investment and lending services targeting social ventures and impact-oriented startups to support the sustainable growth of social economy enterprises, including social enterprises, social cooperatives, village enterprises, self-reliant enterprises, and social ventures seeking financing for growth and operations.
• Social Purpose Project Investment & Lending (사회목적 프로젝트 투융자) Financing for time-bound projects designed to solve and prevent social problems, channeling catalytic or patient capital toward initiatives with clear social impact objectives including housing, employment, energy transition, care services, and community development.
• Social Finance Infrastructure Development (사회적 금융 기반 조성) Ecosystem-building activities including nurturing and capacity development of social finance intermediaries, outreach, research and publishing (SVS Insights, trend reports, translated publications), and international cooperation to foster a sustainable social finance ecosystem.

Quantifiable outcome

• Catalytic capital of 54 billion KRW in impact funds generated 634 billion KRW in total fund formation (11.7x multiplier)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Social Finance Forum (사회적금융포럼)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS co-hosts the annual Social Finance Summit with the Social Finance Forum and Korea Social Economy Alliance. They also jointly publish policy demands for national and local elections, and coordinate advocacy for the Social Solidarity Economy Basic Law.
• Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency (한국사회적기업진흥원)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS partners with the government-affiliated agency on joint funding explanation sessions for social economy enterprises, shared training programs for social finance intermediaries, and co-hosting of financial resource briefing sessions. They co-organize the bi-annual Social Economy Company Online Funding Briefing.
• NACUFOK / National Credit Union Federation of Korea (신협중앙회)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS co-developed and co-delivers the 'Social Finance Specialist Training' program with NACUFOK, targeting credit union staff and regional social finance practitioners. The partnership aims to build capacity among credit unions to serve as social finance intermediaries for social economy enterprises.
• ImpactSquare (임팩트스퀘어)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorImpactSquare is a core social finance intermediary and fund management partner. SVS co-hosts IR sessions with ImpactSquare for social housing and other impact investment opportunities. ImpactSquare also co-organizes the Social Finance Summit and participates in joint funding programs.
• Busan-type Social Solidarity Economy Fund (부산형사회연대기금)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSVS signed a social finance intermediary agreement with Busan-type SVS in May 2024, providing a 4-year 100 million KRW loan with matching funds from Busan-type SVS for a total 200 million KRW local social economy enterprise lending program.
• Bplus (비플러스)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSVS made a 100 million KRW equity investment in Bplus as sustaining capital for the impact investment crowdfunding platform. Bplus supports social economy enterprises and community-based organizations in raising capital by providing information infrastructure and transaction processes for citizen and institutional investors.
• GSG Impact (GSG 임팩트)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS serves as the Korean national partner of GSG Impact, translating and publishing GSG Impact's international research and guides including the 'Impact Investment Wholesalers and Fund of Funds' report and 'A Practitioner's Guide to Impact Vehicle Structuring'. GSG Impact has 50+ country partners globally and SVS represents Korea in the international network.
• United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS co-published the Korean translation of UNRISD's 'Authentic Sustainability Assessment: A User Manual for the SDPI (Sustainable Development Performance Indicators)' alongside the Center for Social Value Studies and HESG. This positions SVS as a key institutional partner for international sustainability measurement methodology in Korea.
• D3 Jubilee (디쓰리쥬빌리)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorD3 Jubilee participated in SVS-organized events and is noted as a co-host of Pre-Asia Impact Night with Japan's Social Innovation Investment Foundation (SIIF), facilitating cross-border impact investment cooperation between Korea and Japan.
• Korea Social Economy Alliance (한국사회적경제연대회의)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS was established in 2019 based on the 2018 social finance activation policy developed by the Korean Social Economy Alliance's task force. The Alliance represents a founding coalition of social economy organizations that continues to partner with SVS on policy advocacy and ecosystem development.
• Center for Social Value Studies (사회가치연구원, CSES)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSES co-developed and co-published the Korean translation of the UNRISD SDPI manual with SVS, one of several joint research and publication partnerships focused on sustainability measurement and social value assessment methodology.
• Local Government Social Economy Funds (지자체 사회적경제기금)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSVS partners with 14 local government social economy funds across Korea, providing matching loans and co-investment to amplify local government capital for social economy enterprise financing. SVS publishes annual reports tracking the operations of these local government funds.
• Social Economy Education Center (사회연대경제교육원)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVS became a member (조합원) of the Social Economy Education Center in late 2024, supporting the institution that provides professional education and training for social economy organizations and their members. The education center also serves as a platform for knowledge sharing.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Yunus Social Business: Berlin-based nonprofit that provides funding and capacity building to social businesses addressing poverty and social problems. Comparable mission-driven intermediary funder serving social enterprises that lack access to mainstream capital.
• Calvert Impact Capital: US-based nonprofit impact investment intermediary that raises capital from investors and on-lends to community development financial institutions and social enterprises. Closely matches SVS's wholesale-then-retail impact capital deployment.
• Big Society Capital: UK-established social investment wholesale fund that channels capital to social sector intermediaries. Operates a near-identical catalytic capital, intermediary-driven model in social finance, making it the closest international structural analogue to SVS.
• Tides Foundation: US-based philanthropic foundation that provides grantmaking, fiscal sponsorship and impact investing services. Comparable as a multi-stakeholder nonprofit foundation pursuing social objectives through grants, investments and ecosystem building.
• Reinvestment Fund: US nonprofit social impact investor that finances projects in housing, education, healthcare and community development using a mix of debt and equity. Comparable as a mission-driven impact investment wholesaler serving underbanked sectors.

Regional players

• FONSIS (Fonds Souverain d'Investissements Stratégiques): Senegal's sovereign strategic investment fund with a mandate to crowd in private capital for social impact projects. Comparable as a government-anchored social/impact investment wholesaler, though operating in a different geography and with broader commercial remit.

Others

• Asian Development Bank: Regional multilateral development bank providing loans, grants and equity investments for development projects across Asia-Pacific. Comparable as a catalytic capital provider for social/economic development, though at much larger scale and broader scope.

Broad incumbents

• Korea Development Bank (KDB): South Korea's state-owned policy bank that participated as a financing partner in SVS-catalyzed impact fund formation. Comparable as a domestic capital provider in Korea's social economy ecosystem but with a far broader commercial mandate.
• British International Investment (formerly CDC Group): UK's development finance institution investing patient capital in businesses across Africa and South Asia. Comparable in deploying below-market-rate capital to underserved markets and catalyzing private investment, though with a broader geographical mandate.
• Omidyar Network: Philanthropic investment firm founded by Pierre Omidyar that deploys grants, debt and equity across multiple impact sectors globally. Operates at much larger scale but shares the catalytic capital and ecosystem-building approach used by SVS.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%82%AC%ED%9A%8C%EA%B0%80%EC%B9%98%EC%97%B0%EB%8C%80%EA%B8%B0%EA%B8%88
• Facebookfacebook.com/svsfund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/svsfund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund