Return of VC firms in Korea rose to record-high

A new report shows venture capital firms in South Korea saw their earnings hit a record high in the first eight months of 2018.... thanks to the government's deregulation policies.Kim Ji-yeon reports. The amount of earnings among venture capital firms in Korea rose to its highest level this year. A report by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups released Wednesday shows that the combined principal investment and profit of venture capital firms recorded more than one-point-six-billion U.S. dollars during the January-to-August period... more than double the estimate recorded during the same period last year.At this pace, the ministry projects the amount to reach nearly 2-point-5-billion dollars by the end of this year. The ministry attributed the rise to the government's deregulative policies in facilitating private-led growth by granting fund of funds... as well as raising 883-million dollars in funding merger and acquisition transactions.The report says initial public offerings still remained as the best means for companies... particularly those engaged in bio or ICT sectors to obtain liquidity. By company, the biggest yield amounted to 92-million dollars by e-commerce platform solution provider Cafe-24... the first venture firm to be listed in Korea's secondary bourse KOSDAQ under the so-called "Tesla standards," which allows listing of promising companies that have not yet posted significant profits. The ranking was followed by local biotech companies, Olix Parmaceuticals and Bio Leaders... which are also listed on the KOSDAQ.Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.