• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1-16
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine how the Korean government has intervened in the venture capital market so far and empirically investigate whether the government's policies on venture capital have stimulated venture capital's early-stage investment. To this end, this study classified the government's market intervention in the venture capital market by stage by studying the related literature and applying and analyzing the case in Korea. And, this study empirically analyzed the effectiveness of the Korean government's policy to revitalize the early-stage investment of venture capital, which is the most important purpose of government intervention. For empirical analysis, yearly data from 2004 to 2018 provided by the Korea Venture Capital Association and Korea Fund of Funds were analyzed using time series statistical analysis and macrodynamics. As a result of the case study, the Korean government has intervened in the venture capital market through direct investment for 25 years, and has been intervening through indirect investment for the next 18 years. As a result of time-series statistical analysis, the government's fiscal investment to increase the formation of venture capital funds and the increase in the ratio of special-purpose funds that mandate a certain percentage of early-stage investment increased the early-stage investment of venture capital. However, macrodynamics showed a trend in the opposite direction from this time series statistical analysis from 2016. In conclusion, this study interprets the trend in the opposite direction to the time series statistical analysis results as the government's erroneous regulation on the venture capital investment method and the recent lack of effectiveness of direct intervention through the government's indirect investment method. In addition, based on the results of case studies and empirical studies, this study made six policy proposals necessary for indirect government intervention.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 2021

Existing research on the investment relationship between venture capital and start-up companies has mainly focused on choosing a startup from the perspective of venture capital, an investor. However, as competition among venture capital has increased recently, excellent start-ups with proven technology are choosing venture capital in reversely. This study investigated key elements that affect the selection of the venture capital by a startup. To this end, we looked at which venture capital company was selected as the final investor for startups that have received investment proposals from multiple venture capitals at the same time. Six early start-ups(pre-series A/Series A) and five mid-term (Series B/C) start-ups were interviewed to focus on the influence of the three elements regarding venture capital - 1) venture capital reputation, 2) relationship between cofounders and investors, and 3) value adding service provided by venture capital - on choice. As a result of the research, the investment portfolio among the reputations of venture capital was a very important element in selecting venture capital. However, it has been shown that the age and asset under management of venture capital are not important. Relationships have emerged as a very important element. Finally, as for venture capital's value-adding services, start-ups in this study did not consider it important. In particular, consulting and monitoring by venture capital has been found to be a burdening attribute for startups. This study suggests implications that can increase the probability of successful investment by venture capital in the investment market where investment competition is fierce, and enhance mutual understanding between venture capital and startups.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.65-77
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• 2017

The syndicated investment strategy of venture capital has merits such as reductionof investment risk, efficient management of investment resources, and information asymmetry mitigation. This study analyzes the investment strategy and network of venture capital by collecting and analyzing investment information of Korean venture capital on Korean start-ups for three years from 2014 to 2016. We could not find statistically significant association with the choice of syndicated investment of the stage of start-ups, the venture capital expertise (investment concentration), internal competence (number of workforce and professional manpower), and the breadth of investment network. As a result of this study, the factors that determine venture capital 's syndicated investment in Korea are only the financial factors such as the size of the investment amount and the size of the fund besides the business field of the invested company. The results suggest that the majority of venture capital firms in Korea may not customize their investment strategies in terms of their expertise or inherent business risks of invested companies.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2024

Recently, venture capital investment has been shrinking globally due to high interest rates and economic slowdown. Korea is no exception. Due to the downturn in the M&A and public markets, increasing economic uncertainty, and the aftermath of corporate bankruptcies, venture capitalists are facing many difficulties in raising funds. In the changed economic environment, the investment decision factors of venture capitalists have also changed. However, studies on VCs' investment decisions have focused on the general economic environment. This study examines how VCs' investment decision-making factors change during economic recessions and booms. To this end, we interviewed active investors who have experienced both economic recessions and booms to compare how VCs' investment decision factors change: 1) personal characteristics of founders, 2) experience of founders, 3) product/service, 4) market, 5) financial situation, 6) contract terms and 7) venture capital co-investment. The results showed that founder's personal characteristics, experience, and product/service were more important during the economic recession. Market is slightly more important during economic booms. The importance of financial situation and investment conditions increased sharply during the recession compared to the boom. Finally, venture capital co-investment did not differ significantly between recessions and booms. By understanding the investment decision-making factors of venture capitalists in the recent difficult venture investment environment, this study aims to help startups raise funds and survive in a difficult market.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.79-105
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• 2017

As the size of venture firm's operating funds continues to increase, the scope of work of the investment jurisdiction is increasing dramatically as well. However, investment decisions vary widely, depending on the competence of the judges. This follow-up study recommends verifying the validity of the effectiveness of venture investments by validating the efficacy of assessing venture investment indexes. After verifying the assessment indexes for 100 venture firms, the study noted that the efficacy of the survey as a qualitative evaluation measure was approximately 85% hit, which can act as a yardstick for investment decisions. The results of this study can contribute toward the decision making power of venture companies in terms of investments.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.189-201
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to analyze the ICT startup investment status in Korea and examine the relationship between startups and venture capitals by network analysis. In this study, the Gephi was used to analyze network attribute values and to compare the results of each centrality. As a result of the analysis, IMM investment, Altos Ventures, and Smilegate Investment were located in the top ranks in each centrality. It can present that venture capital companies ranked high in betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, eigenvector centrality have continuously invested in growing startups into unicorns from 2014 to 2019. These results can be used as data for startups want to receive funding from venture capital in the future in consider to the relation of startup and invest industry. This study provides information to develop strategies for the sustainable venture investment environment in Korea of stakeholders such as startups, venture capital, consumers, and the government; as a result, it can help various follow-up studies in the field of startups and venture capital.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.39-50
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• 2022

Based on the signaling theory, this study examined whether startups are more likely to attract venture investment when receiving government R&D subsidies. First, we reviewed previous studies of the investment decision-making process of venture capitalists and understood the conditions that influence investment decisions. Based on previous studies on the signal effect of government subsidies, particularly government R&D grants, on inducing private fund investment, this study revealed a mechanism to induce venture investment by startups. In addition, in order to verify whether government R&D subsidies have the effect of inducing venture investment, an empirical analysis was conducted based on data from startups under seven years and certified as a venture companies in 2021. This paper used PSM(Propensity Score Matching) method and DID(Difference In Difference) analysis for an empirical study to analyze the average treatment effect on the treated group(beneficiary startups of government R&D grants). As a result of empirical analysis, companies that receive more government R&D subsidies after starting a business are more likely to attract venture investment. From two to three years after conducting the first government R&D project, startups that received government R&D grants attracted more venture investment than those that did not. The results of this paper demonstrate that government R&D projects can also affect the venture investment ecosystem, giving policy implications to government R&D projects targeting startups. It is also expected to suggest strategic implications to startups that need new funding.

• The Journal of Small Business Innovation
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.37-58
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• 2016

Despite the growing importance of corporate venture capital (CVC) in the venture capital market, little scholarly attention has been devoted to cross-border CVC investment. Venture firms perceive higher risks of technology leakage in cross-border CVC investment than they do in domestic CVC investment due to geographical and cultural disparity. Given that venture firms would not receive CVC investment in the presence of the partner uncertainty, we argue that the likelihood of cross-border CVC investment increases with the strength of intellectual property protection (IPP) regime, the investment timing (i.e. funding round number), and the industry unrelatedness with the corporate investor. Additionally, we investigate how the venture firm's complementary resource need interact with the partner uncertainty in decisions for cross-border CVC investment. By examining 2,873 CVC investment transactions in the period 1994-2009, we found supporting evidence for the strength of IPP regime and the industry unrelatedness in mitigating the partner uncertainty of foreign corporate investors. However, the effectiveness of these factors is moderated by the type of resources that the venture firms need from the foreign corporate investors.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.33-50
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• 2014

Though South Korea has world-class volume of Venture Capital Investment, as a share of GDP, early stage venture investments are still short, and investments are concentrated in high technology area and Capital area. Because of the high barriers to entry of the new IPO and M&A market, the venture capital companies undergo difficulties in profit. High-tech ventures face difficulties in raising money from outside investors due to information asymmetry between venture investors and venture companies. To resolve these problems, developed countries's government make a co-funding investment scheme with private sectors and design incentive mechanism such as receiving knowledge of the reputable investors' joint venture. Korean central and local government can benchmark those of things. For example, the expansion of the investment volume with private sector, region-specific matching fund and venture capital's exit path diversification such as M&A through the establishment of a business venture eco-system. At the same time, venture companies are to make an efforts to enhance the ability of screening for venture companies and the value for investment activities through a joint venture investments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.20 no.spc1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2024

Amidst the challenges of the global economy, this paper examines the investment tendencies of professional angel investors, who provide venture capital and management consulting, and explores strategies to revitalize angel investment. According to the research findings, professional angel investors are generally older and more educated than regular angel investors, and they are concentrated in the metropolitan region. Additionally, their investment performance before and after registration remains similar, with investment amounts concentrated between 50 million and 100 million won. Their investment portfolios focus on ICT services, bio/medical, and distribution/service sectors. Based on these findings, policy and institutional support measures are required to revitalize angel investment, including easing registration requirements for professional angel investors, expanding tax benefits related to angel investment, strengthening the provision of information and education related to angel investment, and enhancing angel investment networking. This study is expected to contribute to the revitalization of the venture startup ecosystem and economic growth through the revitalization of angel investment.