The Ventures(더벤처스), an early-stage enterprise investment firm, has committed $5.8 million (KRW 7.7 billion) to 50 startups in 2023.
Launched as an accelerator (AC) in 2014, The Ventures became the third venture capital (VC) licence in the AC industry in June 2020, after Impact Partners and NAUTILUS INVESTMENT, and has since invested in 259 local and international startups. In 2022, it launched a Founders’ Community Fund to further discover early-stage companies with potential. From 2023, it accelerated its investment in local startups in Southeast Asia through a separate Vietnam fund.
The total amount invested by Ventures in 2023 was $5.8 million (KRW7.7 billion), an increase of 20% from the previous year. The number of startups invested in also increased, with a total of 50 new investments. These include AI-optimised vector database Cognica, VR avatar creation and marketplace EDEN (FROMSEOUL), non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring solution APOLLON (APOLLON), sustainable traditional liquor brand Newlook (NEWLOOK), dog edtech service Breeding (Breeding) and litigation automation SaaS Legalcare (Lexynaptics), as well as domestic startups. Four Vietnamese or Vietnamese-based startups were backed by The Ventures, including Box Studio, Vietnam’s African TV/Twitc; 3CAT, a used iPhone trading business in Malaysia; ReFeed, which collects, refines and certifies used cooking oil to provide biofuel; and Ari Kitchen, a cloud kitchen that is revolutionising local F&B delivery.
The Ventures’ record of ‘firsts’ is also remarkable. The Ventures is known for being the first in Korea to have invested founders return to the house that invested in them after exiting to work as managing directors and partners. The Ventures launched ‘TheVentures’, the first community app for information sharing and communication among founders, and won the first investment firm battle in the D.CAMP ALL STAR LEAGUE. Behind this is the entrepreneurial DNA of the members of TheVentures. The founder-invested fund, the founder communication app and the investment process designed from a founder’s perspective – especially in the formal investment review process where you can get an answer in less than a week – are some of the biggest draws for investors at The Ventures.
Cheol-Woo Kim, CEO of The Ventures, said: “As founders ourselves, we have a unique understanding and respect for founders and last year we had 2,640 hours of meetings throughout the year. No matter how busy we are, it’s our team’s goal to respond to 100% of our contacts. “Like last year, Q1 2024 is a challenging time for early stage companies to survive, but it’s times like these that we look forward to meeting more companies, listening to their challenges and investing more.”
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