Korea Growth Financial Investment Management Marks 10th Anniversary with Vision for Advanced Strategic Industries and Productive Finance

Korea Growth Financial Investment Management celebrated its 10th anniversary by announcing a new strategic blueprint to serve as a "partner in the adventure capital market," focusing on advanced strategic industries and technology finance. Over the past decade, the institution has raised 12 trillion won in parent funds and 58 trillion won in equity funds, supporting more than 4,600 companies and fostering 22 unicorns. This milestone marks a shift toward deeper integration between private capital and policy-driven investment to address global technological competition and domestic market gaps.

Since its incorporation in 2016, Korea Growth Finance has significantly expanded the South Korean venture capital landscape, operating 72 parent funds and facilitating the formation of 603 private funds totaling approximately 59 trillion won. New CEO Jang Sang-ik highlighted the organization's success in mobilizing capital from private financial institutions and large corporations, while also making preemptive investments in market-failure areas such as semiconductor and corporate structural innovation funds. The financial performance has been robust, with 75 liquidated private equity funds recording an internal rate of return (IRR) of 13.58%, which surpasses global benchmarks like the Preqin Global Index for both private equity (13.54%) and venture capital (11.35%).

The organization's impact on the real economy is evidenced by data showing that portfolio companies experienced a 150% increase in employment and a 65% jump in sales three years post-investment, alongside a 34-fold surge in R&D spending. Looking ahead, Korea Growth Finance aims to concentrate its capabilities on technology finance, climate initiatives, and the revitalization of local and mid-sized industries. CEO Jang emphasized that the role of venture capital is increasingly critical amid global technological hegemony, necessitating an organic connection between the private sector, policy, and industry to support stable scale-ups and diversify recovery paths through secondary markets and M&A.

During a panel discussion at the anniversary event, industry experts identified several structural challenges facing the domestic sector, including a mismatch between short-term financing and long-term investment needs. Cho Myung-hyun of Semi-Five noted that while Korea excels at initial investment, it lacks the long-term continuity required for deep tech scale-ups. Other experts, including Korea Venture Capital Association Chairman Kim Hak-kyun and Mirae Asset Securities' Kang Sung-beom, called for regulatory reforms—such as easing net capital ratios (NCR) and improving the secondary market—to facilitate M&A activity and provide better recovery paths for investors, noting that the domestic market currently lacks sufficient support programs for companies post-IPO.