Hunet Establishes Corporate-Led Venture Capital... "Focus on Strategic Investment"

Cho Young-tak, CEO of Hunet, on the left, and Bang Seung-cheon, Chief Business Development Officer of Hunet, on the right, serving as co-CEOs of Hunet Ventures.
[Photo by Hunet]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] Education company Hunet announced on the 11th that it has established a corporate venture capital (CVC) called 'Hunet Ventures.'

Hunet Ventures will play a role in discovering promising companies, investing in and nurturing them, and securing Hunet's future growth engines. In particular, it plans to focus investments on innovative companies in the fields of edutech, education, social enterprises, and B2B (business-to-business) services.

Hunet Ventures differentiated itself from other venture capitals (VCs) that focus solely on financial investments by adopting a strategic investment approach. Leveraging its experience in education and B2B businesses, Hunet Ventures plans to act as a strategic investor that can directly drive the performance of invested companies. Additionally, it will utilize various networks including Hunet affiliates and overseas subsidiaries to attract follow-up investments and build a collaborative ecosystem for mutual growth.

Prior to establishing Hunet Ventures, Hunet accumulated know-how in new business incubating. The company explained that it was recognized for its potential in new business development by being selected as the first operating company of the in-house venture nurturing program by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2018. 'Talent Bank,' a talent matching service that started as an in-house venture and spun off at the end of last year, has established itself as a representative platform of the domestic gig economy within three years of its launch. Other in-house ventures such as the lifelong learning platform 'Happy College' and the growth management application 'Grow' are also preparing for spin-offs as part of the second phase of new businesses.

Hunet, which started as an education venture company, intends to generously share the know-how it has accumulated over 22 years with its invested companies. It will link local investment attraction through its US and China branches and support overseas expansion through partnerships with global companies. By appointing startup and business experts as investment reviewers, it will also serve as a growth facilitator for startups.

Hunet CEO Youngtak Cho and Hunet Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) Seungcheon Bang have been appointed as co-CEOs of Hunet Ventures. CEO Cho said, "As a first-generation venture entrepreneur and senior businessperson, I will instill entrepreneurial spirit in promising startups and provide strategic investments without hesitation," adding, "We will discover new businesses, invest in them, and create synergy between the two companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.