Korea Development Bank and Leading Domestic VCs Visit OpenAI Headquarters

Meeting Held

On April 22 (local time), Korea Development Bank visited the headquarters of OpenAI in San Francisco, United States, together with a delegation of major domestic venture capital (VC) firms.

This visit was part of the Silicon Valley Global Round organized by Korea Development Bank. The bank arranged the meeting not only to support domestic startups, but also to help VC firms gain global insights and to strengthen connections within the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem.

More than 40 representatives from leading domestic VC firms, including IMM Investment, Smilegate Investment, and LB Investment, participated in the visit to OpenAI's headquarters. The OpenAI startup team shared examples of global startup collaborations and partnership strategies, demonstrated core technologies, and discussed OpenAI's approach to supporting startups and its technology cooperation structure with the delegation.

Kim Eungseok, CEO of Mirae Asset Venture Investment (fifth from the left in the second row in the photo), Colin Evans (VC Partnerships at OpenAI), Park Hideok, CEO of Translink Investment, Shin Hyesook, Vice President of Korea Development Bank, Kwon Junhee, CEO of IM Investment Partners, Yoon Heekyung, CEO of Kaikto Ventures, and Maeng Doojin, President of Atinum Investment, are taking a commemorative photo. Provided by Korea Development Bank

OpenAI, which has recently shown strong interest in the Korean AI market and technology ecosystem, selected 10 Korean startups for its global corporate partnership program early last year, and subsequently held its own workshop, "Builder Lab," in Seoul this past February.

Last year, Korea Development Bank established the 500 billion won AI Korea Fund to foster the domestic AI ecosystem and support Korean companies in securing leadership in the AI industry.

A Korea Development Bank official stated, "We will continue to serve as a bridge to help domestic VCs and startups take a leap forward through connections with the global innovation ecosystem," and added, "We will further expand strategic exchanges with leading global companies in the future."