Our Venture Partners is a pioneering company in South Korea's venture capital (VC) industry, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. Founded in 1981 as a public enterprise under Korea Technology Development, it was privatized in 1999 and renamed KTB Network. After rebranding to Daol Investment, it became part of the Woori Financial Group, adopting its current name.
CEO Kim Chang-kyu has been at the helm since 2021, during the KTB Network era, and is a prominent figure in the domestic VC sector. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, he has achieved significant success. Under his leadership, Our Venture Partners has earned a reputation as a 'unicorn factory,' successfully nurturing early-stage companies into unicorns valued at over 1 trillion won. Notable successes include Toss, Woowa Brothers, Dalba Global, Hugel, Calsgen, Oris Health, and NoBroker.
Kim noted that while the VC industry has seen some relief this year, fundamental challenges remain. He pointed out that although the venture investment market has expanded rapidly, the market for recovering investments has stagnated. He explained that avenues for exits, such as initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), have not sufficiently broadened, leading to a bottleneck in capital circulation.
"The venture investment market has grown, but the exit market remains unchanged," Kim emphasized. "In a situation where the IPO market is sluggish, we need to develop the secondary market to facilitate the circulation of investment funds." He added, "Domestic VCs invest over 40 trillion to 50 trillion won annually, but for those investments to be recouped, companies must go public or undergo M&A. Currently, both pathways are not functioning adequately, resulting in a bottleneck."
While he agrees in principle with the need to eliminate underperforming companies, he cautioned against an overly conservative approach. He stated, "It is important to filter out penny stocks and zombie companies, but if we continue to raise the bar for listings by emphasizing only soundness, we risk stifling funding opportunities for growth companies and the chances for VCs to recoup their investments." He suggested that the criteria for technology-based special listings should be expanded beyond just biotech to include deep-tech companies that require longer growth periods. He warned that raising the listing threshold based on a few negative examples could hinder new companies from entering the market.
Kim proposed enhancing the secondary market as a complementary solution for the exit market. He noted, "Many companies still need additional funding after going public, but they are often excluded from investment targets. We need to create an environment where VCs can make follow-up investments in these companies." He stressed, "While supplying new funds to companies is important, ensuring that existing investments can be recouped and flow back into other companies is crucial for the venture ecosystem. As IPO recoveries stagnate, the secondary market will inevitably grow."
He also called for regulatory improvements to stimulate M&A activity. Kim stated, "The main entities capable of acquiring startups are mid-sized and large companies, but there are significant constraints due to regulations on subsidiary integration and tax issues. It is necessary to rationally reform related regulations to encourage buyers to actively pursue M&A opportunities."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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