FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      
Jan. 14, 2025                                  
                                                 
Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Discusses Global Venture Investment Partnership with Major VCs in Silicon Valley

SEJONG – Vice Minister KIM Sung-sup of SMEs and Startups visited Silicon Valley, the global venture capital hub, on January 9 and 10 (local time) to discuss investment partnership for K-startups with major local venture capitalists (VCs).

On January 9, Vice Minister KIM first visited the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), a world-class research institution affiliated with Stanford University, to discuss venture investment collaboration plans. SRI operates a venture fund through its own venture investment division (SRI Ventures) and expressed great interest in investing in K-startups and collaborating on R&D technologies. Going forward, MSS and SRI agreed to establish communication channels to facilitate concrete investment partnership for K-startups.

On January 10, a meeting was held with some of the world’s largest VCs representing Silicon Valley. The meeting included participation from prominent investment firms such as a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), General Catalyst, Altimeter, and Stepstone, and was attended by the Consul General of ROK in San Francisco. Notably, the meeting featured a profound discussion on investments in the AI field, with the participation of Professor Andrew Ng from Stanford University, recognized as a leading expert in AI.

Vice Minister KIM stated, “South Korea’s startup ecosystem is steadily growing, supported by government initiatives and driven by the private sector.” He added, “Especially in 2025, many companies from South Korea participated in CES, with 210 Korean companies receiving Innovation Awards (as of January 7, Korea time), demonstrating the best performance ever, which has drawn the attention of global venture investors to the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Korean companies.” He urged the meeting participants to take a strong interest in and invest in K-startups.