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Smilegate Investment has appointed Baek In-su (Head), an investment veteran with 15 years of experience, as its next CEO. The company aims to further strengthen its operational competitiveness by highlighting leadership grounded in practical expertise.
Smilegate Investment announced on the 9th that it plans to officially appoint the designate following the upcoming regular shareholders' meeting. His official term will begin in April.
The incoming CEO, a former executive at Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division, completed the second cohort of KAVA (Korean Venture Capitalist Professional Education Program) and joined Smilegate Investment in 2011. Over the past 15 years, he has directly led the entire venture investment cycle—from identifying early-stage startups to forming large-scale funds, managing IPOs, and executing exits—establishing himself as a field expert.
In 2016, he made an initial investment in Vuno, Korea's first AI (artificial intelligence) medical company, leading it to a KOSDAQ listing and achieving over tenfold returns. Recently, he also participated in a 10 billion won mezzanine investment to support Vuno's overseas expansion. Additionally, his leadership in forming large-scale funds—demonstrating strong fundraising capabilities—is seen as a key factor behind his appointment. He oversaw the New Deal Fund (110.9 billion won) in 2021 and the Innovation Growth Fund (265.2 billion won) in 2023, further proving his operational expertise.
The incoming CEO is known for emphasizing his role as a "sincere partner" based on trust with entrepreneurs and LPs (limited partners). Under the new leadership, the company plans to deepen investments in industries with high technological competitiveness and scale-up stage companies while accelerating global expansion centered on its recently established U.S. subsidiary.
A Smilegate Investment representative stated, "We will accelerate global scale-ups by combining our 26 years of accumulated venture investment know-how with new execution capabilities."
[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]
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