Korea Venture Capital Association (KVCA): "Welcomes Soyoung Lee's Appointment as Minister of SMEs and Startups, Expects Exit Market to Gain Momentum" [fn Market Watch]

[Financial News] On the 23rd, the Korea Venture Capital Association (KVCA) welcomed the appointment of Soyoung Lee, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, as Minister of SMEs and Startups.
KVCA said, "During her legislative career, Minister Soyoung Lee has consistently emphasized the need to reform unreasonable regulations and improve the structure of the capital markets, including KOSDAQ, based on her deep understanding of the venture and startup ecosystem and her field-oriented perspective." It added, "As a ministerial nominee, she stated, 'I will usher in an era of national entrepreneurship through bold regulatory rationalization and the restoration of trust in the capital markets, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively voice its position even on regulations under other ministries or KOSDAQ policies.' Her convictions and commitment to reform have generated great expectations and hope in the venture and startup community."
KVCA and the venture capital industry called for the revitalization of the exit market to be pursued as a key policy task to help the venture ecosystem make a global leap forward. They said forward-looking institutional reforms and policy support were needed to attract large institutional investors to KOSDAQ, improve the market's retail-investor-centered structure, and diversify Korea's exit-market structure, which has been heavily focused on IPOs, so that M&A and trading in existing shares could become more active.
They also stressed the need to actively establish a foundation for expanding the participation of private capital, including pension funds, in risk capital. To help establish a private-sector-led venture investment ecosystem, they proposed redefining the role of the fund of funds and strengthening inducements and incentives for pension funds and mutual aid associations to invest in venture funds.

[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter