TheVentures Announces 20% Growth in 2023 Investments, Expands into Southeast Asia
Reading Time: 2 minutesKorean early-stage venture investment firm TheVentures announced its investment performance for 2023 on the 30th.
Starting as an accelerator in 2014, TheVentures obtained its venture capital license in June 2020, becoming the third in its industry to do so. Since then, it has invested in a total of 259 domestic and international startups. In 2022, TheVentures created the Founders Community Fund to actively pursue early-stage startups with high potential and has been accelerating its investments in local Southeast Asian startups through a separate Vietnam fund since 2023.
In 2023, TheVentures executed a total investment of KRW 7.7 billion, a 20% increase from the previous year. With this increase in investment size, the number of startups receiving investment also grew, totaling 50 new companies. These include domestic startups such as Cognica, an AI-optimized vector database; EDEN(From Seoul), a VR avatar creation and marketplace; Apollon, a non-invasive blood glucose measurement solution; newlook, a sustainable traditional liquor brand; Breeding, a pet edutech service; and LEGALCARE, a litigation task automation SaaS. Additionally, four Vietnam-based startups joined hands with TheVentures: Box Studio, often referred to as the African TV/Twitch of Vietnam; 3CAT, a used iPhone trading business in Malaysia; ReFeed, which collects and refines used cooking oil for bio-material certification; and Ari Kitchen, a pioneer in local F&B delivery innovation with cloud kitchens.
TheVentures, as the first VC, launched a community app ‘TheVentures’ for founder information exchange and communication, and won the investment firm battle at the d・camp All-Star event. This success is attributed to the entrepreneurial DNA of TheVentures’ team members. A fund by founders for founders, a communication app designed for them, and an investment process conceived from a founder’s perspective—where formal investment reviews are responded to within a week—are regarded as TheVentures’ most attractive features.
Kim Cheol-woo, CEO of TheVentures, stated, “As all members of TheVentures have been founders, our understanding and respect for founders is a distinct advantage. Last year, we held 2,640 hours of meetings. No matter how busy, responding 100% to inquiries is our team’s goal,” and he added, “Following last year, the first quarter of 2024 continues to be a challenging time for early-stage companies. However, it is during such times that we plan to meet more companies, listen to their concerns, and increase our investments.”
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