<기사>Ministry of SMEs and Startups Discusses Venture Investment Cooperation Plans with Major Silicon Valley VCs

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Vice Minister Kim Seong-seop visited Silicon Valley, USA, on the 9th and 10th (local time) to discuss investment cooperation in K-startups with major local venture capital (VC) firms.

On the 9th, he visited the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), affiliated with Stanford University, a world-class research institution, to discuss venture investment cooperation plans. SRI operates a venture fund through its own venture investment division (SRI Ventures) and showed great interest in investing in K-startups as well as research and development (R&D) technology cooperation. Going forward, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and SRI agreed to establish communication channels to concretize investment cooperation for K-startups.

On the 10th, a meeting was held with some of the world's largest venture capital firms representing Silicon Valley. The meeting was attended by major investment firms in Silicon Valley, including a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), known as one of the world's top venture capital firms, General Catalyst, Altimeter, and Stepstone, with the Consul General of San Francisco also present. Notably, Professor Andrew Ng of Stanford University, recognized as a global AI expert, participated in the meeting, leading in-depth discussions on investment in the AI sector.

Vice Minister Kim Seong-seop stated, “Korea is showing its best performance ever, with many companies participating in this year's CES and 210 Korean companies winning innovation awards, attracting global venture investors' attention to the creativity and spirit of challenge of Korean companies,” urging attendees to show great interest and investment in K-startups.