"Soaring with Wings of Woori Financial, Achieving No. 1 Performance... Will Become a 'Forward Base for Productive Finance'"

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"People work 8 hours a day, but machines (AI) learn for 24 hours and have now reached the stage of reasoning. It is no longer time for reviewers to hesitate with 'Shall we review this?' The core competitiveness of venture capital (VC) today is 'speed'."

Recently re-elected for his third consecutive term, Kim Chang-gyu, CEO of Woori Venture Partners, identified 'speed' as the future competitive edge of VC. In an interview at the Seoul Gangnam-gu headquarters of Woori Venture Partners, Kim (CEO) stated his ambition to accelerate global expansion and scale growth, backed by the solid support of the Woori Financial Group.

Having joined Korea Comprehensive Technology Finance in 1994, Kim (CEO) is a 'Veteran' who has led major deals from the KTB Network era through Daol Investment to the present day. Even amid turbulent times marked by shareholder changes and name changes, he successfully prevented internal unrest, drove performance improvements, and played a pivotal role as the key commander of the non-bank sector within the group.

Kim Chang-gyu's previous term was one of 'harmony' and 'proof'. While maintaining his unique investment philosophy, which has been consistent for over 40 years since the KTB Network era, he integrated the trust and support system of the Woori Financial Group to elevate competitiveness to a new level.

Kim Chang-gyu stated, "During the process of joining the group, the holding company fully respected our existing investment review systems and operational autonomy. As a result, employees were able to focus solely on their core investment business without any internal unrest, which directly translated into strong performance."

The group's trust was proven by numbers. Woori Venture Partners recorded first place in both net profit and operating profit among financial holding company-affiliated VCs in 2024. This achievement was made possible by successfully liquidating the 'KTB Overseas Expansion Platform Fund' with a scale of 115 billion won and the 'KTBN No. 7 Venture Investment Partnership' with a scale of 68.2 billion won, achieving a record-breaking average internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 30%.

Decisive contributions came from major portfolio exits, including returns exceeding 40 times for Vivarepublica (Toss) and 80 times for Dalba Global. Additionally, the company achieved strong results through exits such as the sale of existing shares in Woowa Brothers (Baemin).

He remarked, "If the company had not delivered results, the organization would have been shaken. I believe we achieved good results because of the long-term trust from the group level."

This year, what Kim Chang-gyu emphasizes most to employees is 'rapid decision-making'. He stated, "In deep tech fields such as physical AI and autonomous driving, the pace of technological advancement and valuation growth is too fast. Rather than delaying for perfect analysis, we must leverage collective intelligence to discuss issues publicly and make quick decisions to seize opportunities."

The sectors he is focusing on are 'physical AI' and 'energy'. Kim Chang-gyu explained, "Since power infrastructure is essential for operating AI data centers, we are also pursuing investments related to energy. In fact, last year we invested in the US private fusion startup CFS (Commonwealth Fusion Systems), strengthening our group's future growth portfolio."

Woori Venture Partners plans to actively establish new funds this year. Currently, it is preparing to create a scale-up fund exceeding 200 billion won and a corporate restructuring fund exceeding 125 billion won.

Kim Chang-gyu stated, "We aim to bring our AUM (assets under management), currently at around 1.4 trillion won, close to 2 trillion won this year to drive growth in the non-bank sector within the group. Given the need for risk-weighted asset (RWA) management by financial groups, we are focusing on strengthening our own fund-raising competitiveness."

Global investment plans will expand beyond the US and China to include India. The company intends to increase investments in the Indian market, which has significant growth potential, using its Singapore office as a base.

Kim Chang-gyu explained, "We have prior experience with an exit from Zomato, an Indian food delivery company we invested in previously, when it listed on the local stock exchange. India is a market where economies of scale are clearly achievable in platform or B2C markets, so we are actively seeking opportunities by leveraging the group's overseas network."

As Woori Financial Group enters its third year since integration, synergies between affiliated companies will also fully kick off. The company is supporting the startup incubation program 'Dino Lab' jointly and expanding co-investments with banks and capital firms to energize the venture ecosystem.

Kim Chang-gyu stated, "This year, we will focus on supplying venture capital to the venture ecosystem at the forefront of productive finance. Beyond simple profit generation, we will remain true to the core role of VC by planting seeds for future growth based on the group's solid capital strength."

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