Lee Jae-myung, the President of South Korea, proposed expanding the scope of cooperation between South Korea and the United States from security to technology, innovation, and startups during a meeting with global venture capital representatives in Silicon Valley. In line with this, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the National Pension Service established a cooperative framework to support overseas investment attraction and market entry for promising K-startups.
On July 25, local time, at a hotel in San Francisco, Lee stated at the 'Silicon Valley Venture Investment Meetup,' "South Korea and the United States should broaden our cooperation from a long-standing security alliance to a technology alliance, an innovation alliance, and a startup alliance."
During the event organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the National Pension Service signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with six venture capital firms: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and Khosla Ventures. The total assets under management of these six VCs amount to $313 billion (approximately 458 trillion won).
These firms are recognized as key players in Silicon Valley, known for identifying the growth potential of innovative companies early on. Sequoia has made early investments in Apple, NVIDIA, and Google, while Khosla invested in OpenAI. Recently, a16z opened an office in South Korea and has invested in Meta, Instagram, and defense startup Anduril.
Lee remarked, "The United States possesses world-class venture investment capabilities and a global network, while South Korea has excellent technology, manufacturing competitiveness, and a dynamic startup ecosystem. If we combine our strengths, we can create the next generation of Samsung, Hyundai, SK, Naver, and innovative companies that will lead the world."
During a subsequent roundtable discussion, participants discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the venture ecosystem between the two countries. The VCs emphasized the importance of increasing investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and expressed their commitment to expanding collaboration with Korean startups.
Im Jung-wook, co-representative of the Startup Alliance, stated on Facebook, "VCs are key players in creating new industries alongside founders. In the past, when our president visited Silicon Valley, he primarily met with CEOs of big tech companies. This time, meeting directly with top VCs to discuss investment and collaboration with Korean startups is very significant."
Kim Yong-beom, head of the Presidential Policy Office, also emphasized on Facebook the importance of the meeting, stating, "Leading big tech companies in advanced countries start from startups and grow through venture capital investments to make their mark on the global stage. This meeting will plant the seeds of cooperation that will grow into a large forest of startups in the future."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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