Yoon Jong-won, CEO of IBK, Visits Silicon Valley to Expand Support for Early-Stage Startups

Discussion on Cooperation to Support Global Top-Level Accelerators and Innovative Startup Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, is visiting Silicon Valley in the United States to explore expanding support for venture capital for early-stage startups in collaboration with global accelerators.

According to IBK on the 3rd, President Yoon will embark on a 6-day, 4-night business trip to Silicon Valley starting today. Through this trip, he plans to further strengthen the role of policy finance in helping early-stage startups overcome the "Death Valley" phase.

President Yoon will first discuss cooperation plans with top global accelerators such as Y Combinator, 500 Startups, and Plug and Play to support innovative startup companies.

He will also negotiate ways to expand IBK’s combined investment and loan financing through networking with Silicon Valley Bank, a specialist in venture debt, and discuss with overseas expansion support organizations like KOTRA on supporting domestic startups’ global expansion.

Additionally, he will hold meetings with local startups and venture capitalists based in Silicon Valley to listen to challenges related to overseas expansion faced by Korean companies.

An IBK official stated, "We plan to strengthen the accelerating function for early-stage startups by creating synergy with existing IBK strengths such as IBK Changgong, venture capital, technology finance, and consulting."

Meanwhile, since President Yoon’s inauguration, IBK has been transforming into a venture capital specialized bank that evaluates and supports technology and growth potential, moving away from the traditional collateral- or financial information-based screening practices. From 2020, IBK set a goal to supply 1.5 trillion KRW in venture capital over three years and has supported over 1 trillion KRW so far. The proportion of direct investments in startups within three years of founding increased more than fourfold from 7.3% in the two years before President Yoon’s inauguration to 29.3% in the two years after.