Korea Precision Materials Industry, a manufacturer of high-performance fiber lightweight composites for defense applications, announced today that it has raised seed funding. The funding was led by Series Ventures, Lotte Ventures, DCamp, Credit Guarantee Fund, and Sunbo Angel Partners. 

Korea Precision Materials Industry produces high-performance fiber lightweight composites using commercial multi-axial lightweight knitting facilities. Ultra-lightweight composites are products that improve performance by about 25% by manufacturing fibers in the form of multi-axial lightweight fabrics, and are currently used mainly in the military industry. 

It is also expanding to other areas where lightweighting is being adopted, such as vehicles and wind turbines. Currently, the market for composites such as aramid is dominated by four companies in the United States and Europe. They prioritize sales to their home countries, which means that other countries can’t buy it even if they want to. 

It is a highly profitable industry with an annual profit margin of 40% and a market that is growing at an average annual rate of more than 9%, and Mr. Yoon is challenging the US and European monopolies by developing sales in Asia through his network in the field and introducing state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.

“The team is composed of veterans with at least 18 years of experience in the superfiber field, which gives them a competitive edge over existing foreign companies, and the team is specialized in production and overseas sales by expanding product facilities to meet export volumes. We invested in the company because it is a technology-based startup but also has great strengths in business capabilities,” said Jung Yong Chung, a director at Series Ventures, which led the investment. 

Mr. Yoon Hyung-soo, CEO of Korea Precision Materials Industry, said, “With this investment, we are planning full-scale production, and we expect that it will greatly help us to increase follow-up investments and sales by expanding facilities. We will quickly grow the company and become a powerhouse of domestic composite materials that will inherit the name of Korea’s traditional textile powerhouse.”