This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:20 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2026.
Since the start of this year, share prices of listed venture capital (VC) firms have rebounded sharply. Once regarded as typical laggards on the KOSDAQ market, they have emerged as core growth stocks as the deep-tech boom, including artificial intelligence (AI), coincides with expectations for government policy. Some VCs that secured equity in promising technology corporations are even being treated as so-called "proxy investments."
According to the financial investment industry on the 6th, the share prices of 18 KOSDAQ-listed VCs, including Mirae Asset Venture Investment, DSC Investment and AJU IB INVESTMENT, rose an average of 69.2% as of the Feb. 6 closing price, compared with the end of 2024. This outpaced the KOSDAQ index's 59.4% surge over the same period, from 678.19 points to the 1,080.77-point range.
Some listed VCs have risen more than fivefold, fueled by a revaluation of major investment destinations in the AI and deep-tech sectors. A prime example is Mirae Asset Venture Investment, whose share price jumped from around 4,500 won to around 24,000 won as the value of its global unicorn investment equity in SpaceX and Moloco was reassessed.
DSC Investment also drew attention as an investor in homegrown AI Semiconductor corporation FuriosaAI, with its share price rising about 195% from around 2,800 won to the 8,400-won range. In addition, VCs such as SV Investment (97.7%), AJU IB INVESTMENT (93.1%) and LB Investment (87.8%) recorded gains close to 100%.
There is an assessment that VCs are shifting from simple theme stocks to core growth stocks. In the past, VC shares were treated as short-term theme stocks that surged and fell on trends such as political connections, the Metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but the situation has changed as "AI and deep-tech" have risen into the realm of major industries. Of course, a short-term theme tendency still exists, but compared with before, they have begun to be recognized as competitive "corporations."
A fund manager at an asset management company said, "As AI and deep-tech technologies spread across major industries, the equity in portfolio corporations held by VCs has reached a stage where it connects to actual exit revenue (performance fees)," adding, "There is still a theme-stock aspect driven by expectations, but at least it is not a vague hope."
In fact, major domestic VCs have now entered the AI portfolio exit phase. Promising AI technology corporations that received early investments are moving to pursue initial public offerings (IPOs) one after another, riding growing industry attention. Stonebridge Ventures alone first invested in 2019 and has invested a cumulative 10.5 billion won or so in Nota, and has already recovered 42.5 billion won from a partial exit.
Expectations for government policies to invigorate the venture investment market are also powering VC share gains. In December last year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, together with related ministries, unveiled a "comprehensive plan to leap to the world's top four in venture" and set out to pioneer an era of 40 trillion won in annual venture investment. This includes creating 50 AI and deep-tech unicorns.
A source in the financial investment industry said, "When the government says it will inject money to create 50 AI and deep-tech unicorns, corporations first discovered by VCs are highly likely to become prime candidates for support," adding, "If corporations grow with government support, there is an expectation that VCs' valuations will also rise."
VC-friendly systems are also emerging. As the investment obligation fulfillment period for venture investment companies was adjusted from the existing three years to five years, an environment has been created for VCs to continue long-term investments in long-cycle areas such as deep-tech. In addition, the Financial Services Commission and Korea Exchange (KRX) have even introduced an AI-tailored technology special listing system.
On the other hand, some houses left out of the deep-tech trend underperformed the index or even posted negative returns. These include Woori Technology Investment, SBI Investment KOREA and Daesung Private Equity. In particular, Daesung Private Equity, whose mainstay was film investment, has seen its share price fall 11.7% as of February from about a year earlier. Woori Technology Investment is showing a movement linked to Bitcoin due to its status as a shareholder of Dunamu.