Megastudy Followed by Igang Academy... Venture Capital Challenge by Entrance Exam Specialist Operator

Thanks Ventures and Bukgukseong Ventures Challenge Investment Business
Focus on Revitalizing Investment in Edutech Startups

Operators of specialized college entrance exam academies are consecutively establishing venture capital (VC) firms. Following Megastudy Group, the number one in college entrance exam education, even Lee Kang Academy, a symbol of Gangnam entrance exam academies, has thrown down the gauntlet in investment business.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 5th, Lee Kangeryu, the operator of Lee Kang Academy, recently established an investment-purpose corporation called ‘Bukgukseong Ventures’. The main business purpose explicitly states ‘investment in founders’. It appears to be a corporation created with venture capital in mind.

Bukgukseong Ventures is headquartered at Lee Kangeryu’s main office located in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. The initial capital is 1 billion KRW. To obtain a startup investment company (venture capital company) license from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the capital must be increased by 1 billion KRW to meet the required capital of 2 billion KRW.

Yang Jae-yeon, CEO of Lee Kangeryu, will take the helm as the inaugural head of Bukgukseong Ventures. Lawyer Han Jae-eon, who is responsible for legal affairs as an inside director of Lee Kangeryu, will serve as auditor, and Seo Kyung-seok, Park Jeong-bin, and Wi Su-min have been appointed as inside directors.

Seo Kyung-seok is a former head of the hedge fund management division at Hyundai Asset Management. After graduating from Yonsei University’s Business Administration department and KAIST graduate school, he focused on developing index fund models. Since the early 1990s, he has been a pioneer in developing index fund models in Korea and is regarded as the ‘godfather’ of index funds.

Lee Kangeryu, which established Bukgukseong Ventures, is a specialized academy and entrance consulting company for school grades and CSAT, founded in 2004. It operates Lee Kang Academy, one of the major academies in Daechi-dong, the mecca of education. It has multiple campuses not only in Seoul but also in key educational hubs in the metropolitan area.

Earlier, Megastudy Group established ‘Thanks Ventures’. Megastudy holds a 70% stake as the largest shareholder of Thanks Ventures. Son Eun-jin, CEO of Megastudy, Kim Jeong-min, CEO of Thanks Ventures, and partner Yoon Ye-seop participated as shareholders. CEO Son Eun-jin is the younger sister of Son Joo-eun, chairman of Megastudy Group.

Megastudy has continuously shown interest in early startup investments since 2012 through its existing subsidiary Megainvestment. Later, it sold Megainvestment to JB Financial Group and attracted industry attention by reestablishing a venture capital firm under the name Thanks Ventures.

The first investment target was the edu fintech company ‘Lemontree’. Son Eun-jin, who leads both Megastudy and Thanks Ventures, personally closed the deal. Investment funds were paid through ‘Thanks Signature Investment Association No.1’. The investment was made alongside Signite Partners, a corporate venture capital (CVC) of Shinsegae Group.

As Thanks Ventures has begun full-scale investments, attention is focused on what direction the newly established Bukgukseong Ventures will take. The industry expects that, just as Thanks Ventures invested in the edutech sector, Bukgukseong Ventures will also focus on investments in the edutech field that can create synergy effects with the academy business.