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The second-generation "owners" in the financial investment industry are making their mark in venture capital (VC). Mostly U.S.-educated, they are building careers in the field, drawing on the networks and investment instincts of the parent generation who made their names in the securities and investment banking (IB) industries.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 2nd, second-generation figures from leading families in the financial investment sector have drawn attention as they build track records on the investment front.
The most representative case involves the two children of Park Hyeon-joo, chair of Mirae Asset Group. Park's eldest son, Park Jun-beom, majored in economics at Washington University in St. Louis in the United States and joined Mirae Asset Venture Investment, the group's VC affiliate, in 2022. After serving as a senior investment manager until recently, he joined the "home base," Mirae Asset Securities, on the 31st of last month. (Related article☞[Exclusive] Chair Park Hyeon-joo's eldest son, Jun-beom, to move to Mirae Asset Securities)
Mirae Asset Securities said of Park's move, "The importance of investing in unlisted companies has recently grown, so we needed to expand our talent pool to discover innovative growth companies." The remarks are seen as indicating that Chair Park, Park's father, recognized Park's investment capabilities shown at the VC to some extent.
Park is known to have a particular interest in content, platforms, and games. He directly sourced the series A investment in U.S. public cloud company Foundry. It is known that the investment was possible based on a long-standing connection with the founder. In addition, activewear brand Andar, whose parent company was recently sold to Bain Capital, beauty platform company 2020, game developer Theorycraft Games, and XR company AmazeVR are among the companies Park invested in.
Park's older sister, Park Ha-min, also works in the VC industry. Since September last year, she has served as a partner at NexusBay Capital, founded in Hong Kong by CEO Koo Seung-ha. NexusBay Capital primarily operates as a fund of funds (FOF) that invests in VC funds. VC firms such as Bain Capital Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Neo Ventures are in its portfolio.
Born in 1989, Partner Park Ha-min has deeper experience in IB and VC than her younger brother. After graduating in history from Cornell University and earning an MBA from Stanford University, she worked at McKinsey & Company, CBRE, the Hong Kong unit of Mirae Asset Global Investments, and Blackstone, and later at Silicon Valley VCs Draper Venture Network, Quest Venture Partners, and GFT Ventures.
A lesser-known case is Song Min-jae, daughter of Capstone Partners CEO Song Eun-gang. After graduating from Swarthmore College in the United States and earning an MBA from Stanford University, Song joined KB Investment in 2020 and invested in the pre-owned luxury platform Mister Camel, 3D artificial intelligence (AI) company NdotLight, and the robotics automation AI recommendation service company Marosol. After a stint at Kakao, she founded Crew Capital in the United States in 2023 and serves as CEO. A VC industry source said of CEO Song, "A talent widely reputed to be highly capable."
Do Jae-won, director and son of STIC Investments Chairman Do Yong-hwan, earned a bachelor's from UC Berkeley and a master's and doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, worked at Company K Partners, and now works at STIC Ventures. Do is known to have led investments in space technology company CONTEC and AI optimization company Nota AI. Nota AI, in particular, drew attention when its share price surged immediately after listing in Nov. last year. Its market capitalization based on the offering price was only 190 billion won, but its current market cap exceeds 1 trillion won.
Lee Ho-geon, son of InterVest CEO Lee Tae-yong, is also active as a principal. After majoring in computer engineering at Cornell University, Lee led investments in Blockchain infrastructure company a41, Blockchain company DSRV, and EQBR.
In the VC industry, many see a structural backdrop that makes it inevitable for them to stand out. First, thanks to the networks built by their parents' generation, they have strong access to deal sourcing. Also, because they learn and absorb practical investing skills such as valuation directly from their parents, they enter the industry having grasped the "capital markets playbook" earlier than others.
That does not mean the market's view is uniformly favorable. A VC industry official said, "If the so-called 'bloodline premium' is not proven by results, it can backfire," adding, "Reputations of the second generation will ultimately be determined by their investment performance and exits."