[Listed VC In-Depth] ③ Mirae Asset Venture Investment Emerges as Top Beneficiary of New Government AI Policy

Early Investments in Lunit, Kurly, and Ridibooks Nurture Unicorns
Achieved Major 600 Billion Won Exits Last Year, High Hopes for Moloco and Semifive
43% Focused Investment in the AI Value Chain, Share Price Soaring

Editor's NoteThe Lee Jaemyung administration has demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering the venture sector. Large-scale regulatory easing and budget expansion are anticipated. Venture capital (VC) is drawing significant attention, as VCs are expected to play a pivotal role in the government's upcoming venture support initiatives. In particular, listed VCs are in the spotlight. These listed VCs captured intense investor interest in 2021, when the venture budget surged, by reaching their all-time high share prices. In this context, Asia Economy is publishing a series of in-depth analyses focusing on the strengths and key investment portfolios of major listed VCs.

Mirae Asset Venture Investment has earned the nickname "unicorn maker" for nurturing each of its portfolio companies into unicorns (unlisted startups valued at over 1 trillion won). Even amid a contraction in the venture investment market, the company demonstrated its strength last year by recording its highest-ever investment exit performance. Mirae Asset Venture Investment, which has been making early and bold investments in artificial intelligence (AI), is now emerging as the biggest beneficiary of the new administration's policy direction to expand AI investment.

Investing with Foresight: Nurturing Unicorns

Mirae Asset Venture Investment recognized the potential of Lunit, an AI-based cancer diagnostics startup, at an early stage and made bold investments from the outset. The company first invested during the Series A round in 2016, when Lunit's valuation was 30 billion won, and continued to participate through to the pre-IPO stage, investing a total of about 4 billion won. At the pre-IPO stage, Lunit's valuation soared to 500 billion won, but Mirae Asset Venture Investment, seeing further growth potential, decided to make additional investments. Lunit went public in July 2022, during which Mirae Asset Venture Investment successfully realized some of its returns.

Market Kurly, which joined the ranks of unicorns as a leading e-commerce company, is another representative example of Mirae Asset Venture Investment's early-stage investments. The company invested in Market Kurly four times, starting in 2017 when the valuation was 40 billion won and continuing until the valuation reached 650 billion won.

As for Ridibooks, the No. 1 e-book platform in Korea, Mirae Asset Venture Investment was the sole investor in the Series A round in 2011, investing about 2 billion won when the company was valued at around 10 billion won. The company made three follow-on investments thereafter and sold part of its stake in 2019, realizing about 7.6 billion won in returns. Mirae Asset Venture Investment still holds a significant stake, so further profits are expected in the future.

Mirae Asset Venture Investment was established in 1999 and listed on the KOSDAQ market in 2019. The company operates in both venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) segments, with the VC segment accounting for 81.4% of total revenue as of the first quarter of this year. Assets under management (AUM) surpassed 1 trillion won in 2021 and grew to 1.7259 trillion won last year. Leveraging Mirae Asset Group's global network, the company is strengthening its overseas investment capabilities in countries such as India, where it has a local subsidiary, as well as the United States, China, and Vietnam.

A representative from Mirae Asset Venture Investment stated, "We will continue to proactively discover and invest in innovative companies in areas such as AI, semiconductors, robotics, and content, where Korea has a competitive edge, as these are future growth engines. We also plan to expand our global investments by leveraging the global network and deal sourcing capabilities of our parent company, Mirae Asset Group."

31-Fold Exit with Ohouse, More IPOs Expected This Year

Last year, the company achieved record-breaking results by successfully exiting investments worth about 600 billion won. The VC fund invested 41.7 billion won and recouped 203.3 billion won, a fivefold return, while the PE fund invested 241.5 billion won and recovered 377.7 billion won, a return of about 1.6 times. Notable examples include APR, a beauty device distributor, and Bucketplace, which operates the interior commerce platform Ohouse.

Mirae Asset Venture Investment first invested 3 billion won in APR in 2018, when the company was valued at about 190 billion won. With continued investments, the total reached 15 billion won, and at the time of APR's IPO, Mirae Asset Venture Investment held a 4.5% stake. The company sold its entire stake in APR, realizing 110 billion won in returns and achieving a 7.7-fold profit.

In the case of Bucketplace, Mirae Asset Venture Investment invested during the Series B round in 2018 and the Series C round in 2020, when the company was valued at about 20 billion won. The company achieved a remarkable 31-fold multiple upon exit. Other major portfolio companies include Musinsa, Mathpresso, StyleShare, and Class101.

IPOs are anticipated this year and next for Semifive, Moloco, and Rebellions. Semifive, a semiconductor design solution company established in 2019, is preparing for a KOSDAQ listing in the second half of this year. Its valuation jumped more than fivefold from 87.5 billion won at the seed stage to 500 billion won in the Series B round. Mirae Asset Venture Investment invested a total of 36.3 billion won, including 9 billion won at the seed stage. After the IPO, profits are expected to range from 2.5 billion to 6 billion won.

Moloco, an AI advertising solution company, is targeting a Nasdaq listing next year. Mirae Asset Venture Investment has invested more in Moloco than in any other AI company, with about 72.3 billion won invested since 2019. Moloco's current valuation is recognized at about 3.3 trillion won, and there are expectations that it could reach a valuation of up to 10 trillion won after listing. Estimated investment returns are between 3 billion and 8.5 billion won.

Rebellions, an AI semiconductor chip startup, received a total of 12 billion won in investments from Mirae Asset Venture Investment during the Series A and B rounds, and strong results are expected. Lee Sangheon, a researcher at iM Securities, commented, "Not only the capital gains from the sale of Semifive, but also the valuation gains from Moloco and capital gains from the sale of mid-sized portfolio companies will be reflected in the results. Net profit for this year is expected to increase significantly compared to last year."

Mirae Asset Venture Investment is particularly noteworthy for having secured a large number of high-quality portfolios in the AI value chain. The company is currently investing 257.9 billion won in a total of 57 AI companies, accounting for 43% of its total investments as of last year. This is more than a tenfold increase from 4% in 2018. Researcher Lee also predicted, "As government-led AI funds and institutional investor participation increase, the likelihood of Mirae Asset Venture Investment being selected as a general partner (GP) will also rise."

A representative from Mirae Asset Venture Investment said, "The formation of a new 122 billion won AI fund in April was a strategic move to focus even more on AI investments. In line with AI promotion policies, the proportion of AI investments is expected to increase further."