Minister Oh Young-joo Fully Supports Venture Fund Capital Raising... Met with VC Industry (Comprehensive)

'Venture Capital Industry Meeting' Held on the 22nd
VC Industry "Regulatory and Rule Improvements Needed"

Oh Young-joo, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, expressed her determination to fully support the fundraising efforts for venture funds this year. Representatives of venture capital (VC) firms and the venture investment industry voiced the need for regulatory improvements in response to the rapidly changing market conditions.

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is speaking at the 'Venture Capital Industry Meeting' held on the 22nd at Korea Venture Investment in Seocho, Seoul.
Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

On the afternoon of the 22nd, at the ‘Venture Capital Industry Meeting’ held at Korea Venture Investment in Seocho, Seoul, Minister Oh stated, “We will swiftly supply the 1.6 trillion KRW scale mother fund investment project within the first quarter to strengthen the government’s role as a catalyst, while creating an ecosystem that allows more private capital to flow into the venture investment market.”

She continued, “By enhancing strategic specialization in the mother fund sectors, we will invest a record-high 150 billion KRW in global funds, forming funds worth 1 trillion KRW to actively support startups’ global expansion. Additionally, we will invest 100 billion KRW in region-specific venture funds to alleviate investment imbalances outside the metropolitan area.”

Minister Oh also emphasized, “We plan to support large corporations, mid-sized companies, and financial institutions to take a more proactive approach to venture investment through easing regulations on corporate venture capital (CVC), allowing the win-win cooperation fund to invest in venture funds, and establishing the Startup Korea Fund.”

She added, “To foster an environment where more economic actors can participate in venture investment, we will also work to change the social perception of venture investment. While venture investment is generally perceived as high-risk, the mother fund has achieved an outstanding average annual return of 7.5%, with 70% of all liquidated funds generating profits without losses.”

The meeting was attended by domestic venture investment-related associations and organizations such as the Korea Venture Capital Association, Korea Venture Investment, mother fund management institutions, VC representatives by investment scale, CVCs, and the president of the Korea Accelerator Association.

Participants discussed support for VC overseas expansion, including recognizing primary investment for overseas company investments by domestic VCs, expanding mother fund support for convergence content companies, increasing mother fund management fees, and expanding support.

Alongside this, VC representatives argued for the need to improve regulations and rules. Shin Ki-cheon, Vice Chairman of the Korea Venture Capital Association, said, “At the end of last year, we formed a total fund of 860 billion KRW and are proceeding with investments. We are preparing to expand the pool of investors overseas. However, during this process, we found that Korean regulations prohibit attracting investments from overseas investors. I question why such a regulation should exist.”

On the 22nd, a 'Venture Capital Industry Meeting' is being held at Korea Venture Investment in Seocho-dong, Seoul.
[Photo provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

There was also an opinion that opportunities for exchange with overseas VCs should be expanded in line with the overseas expansion of startups and venture companies. Ahn Shin-young, CEO of Ace Stone Ventures, said, “We want to go global, but being in the rookie league, our network has limitations. If the Ministry of SMEs and Startups could gather overseas investors (LPs) and fund managers (GPs) to create a platform, it would help build good overseas networks to receive investments or create collaboration opportunities when expanding abroad.”

Song Jae-jun, CEO of Crit Ventures, emphasized the need for an integrated and revised investment project among government ministries. Crit Ventures is a newly established VC founded three years ago by companies related to the gaming industry. Song said, “Since many of our colleagues are also game company professionals, we believe there are many exportable opportunities in fields combining new technologies and IT content, so we are investing heavily. However, this area is connected to ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which causes ambiguity when receiving support. To enhance export competitiveness, we ask the ministries to develop integrated nurturing plans.”

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