▪ Korea’s venture industry and venture capital (VC) market requires increased foreign capital to expand the global openness of the domestic venture ecosystem despite its development through government fostering policies.
▪ Attracting global venture investment can catalyze GDP growth and capital market development while promoting the internationalization of domestic venture companies.
▪ Despite implementing comprehensive initiatives to attract global venture investment, Korea’s global VC participation remains low at 2.1% of the domestic venture investment market.
▪ However, global VC investment is low compared to total venture investment in Korea, at 4.9% in 2022 and 2.1% in 2023.
▪ The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has raised overseas VC global funds through the SME FOF, but the amount of investment in Korea is only 10.7% of the total subsidiary funds raised.
▪ Factors hindering global VCs from investing in Korea include regulations restricting investment autonomy, limited exits, language barriers, lack of networks, and a lack of VC capital.
▪ The government is preparing measures to deregulate and streamline investment procedures to attract global investment.
▪ However, more efforts are needed to strengthen the international visibility of Korean companies by expanding their global network and improving support for policy funds such as overseas VC global funds, M&A funds, and secondary funds.