Korea Venture Investment Emphasizes 'Sustainable Investment Principles'... Hosts ESG Initiative

Providing Step-by-Step Roadmap and Implementation Directions

Korea Venture Investment Corp. emphasized sustainable investment principles based on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) on the 30th.

Yu Woong-hwan, CEO of Korea Venture Investment, attended the '2023 London Tech Week' held in London, UK, on June 12, actively networking with members of the UK's venture ecosystem.
[Photo by Korea Venture Investment]

On the same day, Woo-Whan Yoo, CEO of Korea Venture Investment Corp., stated at the ‘2023 Korea Venture Investment ESG Initiative’ held at Chosun Palace in Gangnam, Seoul, “We will expand market interest to non-financial values through social performance measurement, establish an ESG data matrix and ESG evaluation model, and gradually advance sustainable investment principles.”

He also explained the direction for promoting ESG management. CEO Yoo said, “Global companies are pursuing Tech for Good, aiming to solve social challenges through technology and innovation, but domestic companies face practical difficulties and require institutional support.”

Korea Venture Investment Corp. organized this event to provide information on a phased roadmap and promotion direction for ESG expansion, as well as domestic and global trends. Considering that ESG adoption in related industries such as startups and asset management firms is still at an early stage, the focus was on enhancing understanding.

Aditya Vikram, Head of Private Equity at the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), who delivered the keynote speech, emphasized that not only large corporations but also startups, limited partners (LPs), and general partners (GPs) should pursue ESG. He provided insights into each role and realistic promotion directions.

Following this, Dong-Soo Kim, Director of the ESG Research Institute at Kim & Chang Law Firm, and Yoon-Je Jang, Director of the ESG Research Institute at Sejong Law Firm, gave presentations on ESG trends and the future of the venture investment market, as well as legal and institutional changes related to ESG in the venture capital (VC) investment market.

Afterwards, a discussion was held on the ‘Development Direction for Activating ESG in the Venture Investment Market and the Role of Korea Venture Investment Corp.’ Moon Sung-Hoo, Head of the ESG Center at Won Law Firm, chaired the discussion, with participants including Won-Woong Kim, Team Leader of the Responsible Investment Team at the National Pension Service, Jin-Seok Choi, Team Leader of the Responsible Investment Team at Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), Ki-Soo Park, Head of the ESG Division at Stick Investment, Young-Kwon Koo, Vice President at Smilegate Investment, and Jung-Kwon Ahn, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at Noeul Co., Ltd.

The event was attended by over 120 people, including government ministries, major private investment institutions in the venture investment market, VC venture fund managers, and ESG industry professionals. A representative from an asset management firm said, “As a firm mainly investing in small-scale startups, ESG was unfamiliar, but through this event, we learned about current trends and directions.”

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