VC Root Ventures to Return VC Company License

Root Ventures to Withdraw from Investment Business under Parent Company InziSoft
All Investment Division Staff Depart; VC Registration to Be Cancelled

[Asia Economy, reporter Lee Kwangho] Venture capital (VC) firm Root Ventures has decided to return its venture capital company (VC company) license. Due to worsening market conditions, the company has chosen to discontinue its investment business.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry, Root Ventures plans to voluntarily return its VC company license in the near future. As a result, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is expected to cancel Root Ventures’ registration as a VC company. In addition to returning the license, Root Ventures also plans to liquidate the corporation.

Currently, all investment personnel, including CEO Jung Boyoung, have left the company. Since there are venture funds established through policy institutions, it appears that the process of returning these funds will also take place. The company is exiting the industry without notable investment achievements, just three years after its founding.

Root Ventures was established in September 2021 as a VC company. It primarily focused on discovering promising startups in the early stage.

The largest shareholder of Root Ventures is Kosdaq-listed company InziSoft (Mobile Leader). In 2022, Root Ventures submitted a proposal for the “Smart Korea Mentor Company Matching Investment” in the first regular round of the Korea Fund of Funds, and subsequently secured the status of general partner (GP). Despite being a new company, it made its presence known.

At that time, Root Ventures secured 4.5 billion KRW from the Fund of Funds and, matched with InziSoft (Mobile Leader), a developer of non-face-to-face identity verification solutions, received a total of 10 billion KRW in funding. This enabled the formation of the 15 billion KRW “Smart Root ML Fund.” By independently establishing a blind fund (a fund without specified investment targets), the company attracted attention in the industry.

Root Ventures also manages two co-GP funds. Together with N Partners, it jointly operates the “N Root Venture Investment Association” (11.2 billion KRW), and with S&S Investment, it co-manages the “Root S&S Venture Investment Association” (5.3 billion KRW). The total assets under management (AUM) amount to 31.5 billion KRW.

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