This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 8:42 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2026.
A record amount of liquidity is expected to flow into this year's venture investment market. Following the government's declaration that it would raise annual venture investment to 40 trillion won, the Korea Fund of Funds opened the gates by moving to create 4.4 trillion won in funds through its first regular commitment program of the year.
The market's focus is already on the birth of a "decacorn," with a corporate value surpassing several trillion won and reaching 10 trillion won. The richer the liquidity, the more pronounced the tendency for money to flow into later-stage corporations with lower risk.
Even as the market's center of gravity tilts toward the back end, Base Ventures has stuck to early-stage investments since its founding. It aims to invest in startups at the very beginning and achieve returns from several dozen times to more than 100 times. The results show in the numbers. Travel Wallet, invested at a corporate value of 2.5 billion won, has grown into a corporation valued at 350 billion won, and Rapport Labs, discovered at a value of 5 billion won, reached a valuation of 500 billion won. Contents Technologies likewise saw its corporate value soar from 7 billion won to 320 billion won.
Bunjang, Blind, ZigZag, and Banksalad have all passed through Bass Ventures' hands. In particular, MarqVision, which drew interest from global VCs including Sequoia Capital in the United States, is a representative case where Bass Ventures, as the first institutional investor, recognized the potential and planted the seeds.
We met with CEO Shin Yun-ho at Bass Ventures' headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, to ask about investment strategy and the current state of the venture market. The following is a Q&A.
― Looking back at the past year.
"In 2024, we appointed CEO Lee Tae-yang and shifted to a co-CEO system, and last year we created a 100% private fund totaling 56.8 billion won. More than half of our existing limited partners (LPs) participated again, and it is meaningful that we formed it purely with private capital, without government money such as the Korea Fund of Funds. We executed investments at roughly 30 billion won, similar to previous years. Last year, in particular, we focused on becoming the 'first institutional investor (from the investee's perspective).'"
― What does it mean that the fund was created with 100% private investment.
"Policy money such as the Korea Fund of Funds or Korea Growth Investment Corp. are LPs that 'pick among VCs.' But private LPs are different. They coldly compare all asset classes. Frankly, gold, Bitcoin, and U.S. stocks are all competitors to VCs. In the end, to make them allocate assets to VCs, you have to show them something different. Over the past four to five years, the asset class of Korean VC funds seems to have delivered more disappointment than satisfaction to private LPs."
― Why were LPs disappointed with VC funds.
"Once a fund closes, LPs feel less pressure and actually give more candid feedback. What we often hear is, 'We tried diversifying by committing to multiple VC funds, but the portfolios we ended up with were identical.' That's because VCs often co-invest (club deals) in the same company. From an LP's standpoint, there is no hedge against losses. This is a very reasonable challenge from an asset management perspective.
So the core question is, 'How do we build an asset class that only we can access?' That is exactly why, based on our capabilities, characteristics, and philosophy, we focus more on early-stage investments in corporations."
― What do you mainly emphasize when proposing commitments to LPs.
"In our commitment proposal, the first thing we address is 'why invest in a VC fund.' We do say the obvious line that 'the vintage is good' (meaning that in the year the fund is formed or begins investing, startup valuations are generally lower and expected returns are higher), but more importantly, every time a new era arrives like now, startups have taken the lead.
We once analyzed the median internal rate of return (IRR) of U.S. venture funds by year. The funds formed at the dawn of the internet era and the funds formed at the start of the mobile era had the highest IRRs—nearly 40%. Likewise, funds formed at the start of the artificial intelligence (AI) era inevitably have very high returns.
That's not just because many startups invest in a 'hot industry.' When the industrial landscape shifts, corporations that once held hegemony fade, and new corporations rise. In other words, startups are inherently strong during periods of industrial upheaval.
Even now in the AI era, traditional corporations find it hard to quickly change the way they have always worked, while new corporations are pivoting far more flexibly and freely. That's because new startups, without any legacy, start out as 'AI-native.' For that reason, when a revolutionary change comes to an industry, we persuaded LPs that it is advantageous to increase investments in early-stage corporations."
― Base Ventures is known as a firm that invests particularly in early corporations with short operating histories, even among VCs. How early is 'early'.
"For more than 80% of the companies we invest in, we are their 'first institutional investor.' The first check carries big risk, but it also carries a large possibility of high returns. So we explain this to LPs and even notify them in advance that 'we do not plan to control that risk.'
To control a fund's risk, one could allocate 20% of total commitments to seed and 50% to Series A and B, but we choose not to do that. We believe such asset allocation is something an LP can handle within their own portfolio."
― What do you mainly look at when investing.
"We look most at who the founder is. In most cases, as time passes, the CEO and the company become alike. In other words, the company's future inevitably depends on who the CEO is.
Our firm has invested in more than 100 companies, but only about four or five have brought truly meaningful returns. And the returns from these four or five companies are not 10 times but close to 100 times.
To record a 100-fold return within five years, or 10 at the longest, the conventional approach will not work. Our slogan is "make crazy dreams great," and literally only a person with a crazy dream can create something great. We prefer founders with big ambitions to grow far beyond someone who plans to exit after taking investment at a 5 billion or 10 billion won valuation and reaching 100 billion won."
― How do you handle post-investment support.
"Co-CEO Lee Tae-yang (former Toss co-founder) sometimes works full time for three to four weeks at a portfolio company. The approach is to attend all meetings, listen to the concerns of the CEO and team members together, and provide guidance. Of course, we only do this when the portfolio company wants it."
― Because you mainly invest at the very first stages, finding good companies earlier than others must be the biggest challenge.
"In the past, we donated a few million won per semester to university student entrepreneurship groups to create touchpoints with founders, and we also once cold-contacted people known for excellence by looking at the org charts of unicorns to ask if they intended to start a company. Rapport Labs (operator of Queenit) was born that way.
That said, VC is also a business of brand. If you help portfolio companies grow and produce good outcomes, that feeds back into the VC's branding and ultimately enables more deal sourcing."
― Where does Korea's startup ecosystem stand now.
"It seems that more than ever, young and outstanding people are starting companies. Among the companies we invested in last year, five had founders from medical schools. Among them, one person dropped out in the third year of the program to start a company.
They were (to exaggerate a bit) the smartest people in their groups, but compared to that ranking of brilliance, what they would gain (after becoming doctors) did not seem that great. It's a very rational thought. Rather than becoming doctors, they want to start businesses and achieve great success."
― People with so-called "good backgrounds," such as elite academic credentials, seem to find it easier to raise money and have a higher chance of success. What do you think.
"People with strong academic credentials learn guidelines or manuals quickly, and they can more easily recruit good talent than others to scale their organizations fast. In that sense, it is true that those with decent backgrounds had a higher likelihood of founding and succeeding.
However, in the AI era, the very guidelines and manuals of the past are blurring. And unlike before, companies can now operate without bringing in as many people. In short, the strengths of founders with elite academic credentials are gradually losing their luster.
In fact, the Thiel Fellowship, introduced in 2011 by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, supports college dropouts with $200,000 to help them start companies. In the case of Company A, which we invested in, the CEO graduated from Digital Media High School and started the company right away, and the monthly revenue has grown more than 50-fold in a year, achieving rapid growth."
― With a record amount of liquidity said to be supplied to the venture market this year, there are concerns that valuation "bubbles" will deepen like during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Founders have learned a lot. They realized that simply raising money to push up valuations is not the answer, and many have learned how to run companies in a healthy way. Among companies that have expanded overseas and are actually earning money, many are no longer raising funds and are focusing solely on improving cash flow."