SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung met six of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms on Saturday, urging them to help turn South Korea into an indispensable global hub for innovation and startup investment.
The "Silicon Valley Venture Investment Meetup," held at a hotel in San Francisco, came a day after Lee met the chief executives of major U.S. technology companies, extending his U.S. visit from discussions with established Big Tech leaders to the investors who helped build many of them.
Speaking at the meeting, Lee described South Korea as "an irreplaceable base for innovation" capable of offering new growth opportunities for global investors.
"We will create the world's best environment for investment and entrepreneurship," he said, pledging to improve visa policies, expand cooperation with overseas investors and provide comprehensive support ranging from financing to overseas market expansion so promising startups can grow into global companies.
Lee also called for the Korea-U.S. alliance to evolve beyond its traditional security foundation.
"The two countries should broaden cooperation from a security alliance to a technology alliance, an innovation alliance and a startup alliance," he said. "I hope you will become reliable partners in building an 'irreplaceable Korea' where global talent, technology and capital come together to create the next 30 years of growth."
During the event, the National Pension Service signed memorandums of understanding on investment cooperation with six leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms — Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Khosla Ventures.
The participants also held a roundtable discussion on expanding cross-border venture investment and strengthening startup ecosystems in South Korea and the United States.
Together, the six venture capital firms manage about $313 billion in assets, while the National Pension Service oversees about 1.69 quadrillion won ($1.2 trillion), making the gathering one of the largest assemblies of venture capital and institutional investment capital focused on Korean startups.
The firms have collectively backed many of the world's biggest technology companies. Sequoia Capital was an early investor in Apple, Nvidia and Google. Andreessen Horowitz invested in Meta, Instagram and defense technology startup Anduril, while Khosla Ventures was an early backer of OpenAI. Andreessen Horowitz recently opened a Seoul office, underscoring growing interest in Korea's startup ecosystem.
According to the presidential office, venture capital executives emphasized that the biggest ingredients for startup success in Korea are a culture that allows entrepreneurs to recover from failure and sufficient access to capital.
Lee said the comments "deeply resonated" with him and pledged to pursue policies that would give young people and aspiring entrepreneurs more opportunities to launch businesses.
He also instructed presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom and First Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Noh Yong-seok to explore practical ways to strengthen links between universities, investors and startups after hearing suggestions on improving Korea's investment environment.
The agreements signed Saturday call for long-term cooperation to identify promising Korean startups and expand global investment opportunities through closer collaboration between the participating institutions.
In a separate post on social media, policy chief Kim described the gathering as a meeting with Silicon Valley's "kingmakers," saying Lee met not only Big Tech executives during his U.S. visit but also the venture capital investors who helped create many of today's technology giants.
Kim noted that the six VC firms collectively invested early in companies including Apple, Nvidia, Google, Meta, Instagram and OpenAI, adding that their attention is now increasingly turning toward Korea, pointing to Andreessen Horowitz's recent decision to establish a Seoul office.
He said the meeting represented years of efforts by Korean institutions to deepen ties with Silicon Valley, citing the National Pension Service's San Francisco office, Korea Venture Investment Corp.'s long-standing presence in the region and the Startup Venture Campus in Menlo Park.
Kim said the roundtable was ultimately about nurturing "the next Samsung or SK hynix" through the venture capital ecosystem rather than the state-led industrial policies that powered South Korea's earlier economic development.
"Global Big Tech companies begin as startups and grow with venture capital," Kim wrote. "Connecting Korean startups with the world's leading venture investors is precisely the role the government should play."
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