KVIC Taps Yoo Sang-hoon to Run $24 Billion Fund of Funds Unit

Korea Venture Investment Corp. has named Yoo Sang-hoon to head Fund Management Division 1, the unit that oversees roughly 35 trillion won ($24 billion) in venture fund formation through the Korea Fund of Funds, according to venture investment industry sources on the 5th.

The division is the main source of capital for the country's venture investment market and the conduit that channels government venture investment policy into the private market. It supports the formation of venture funds worth about 35 trillion won, giving whoever runs it significant influence over capital flows in domestic venture investing.

The post has sat vacant since August, when former division head Choi Chul-hoon was promoted to vice president. Yoo, currently head of KVIC's management planning division, will hold both posts starting on the 16th. He then devotes himself fully to Fund Management Division 1 from Jan. 1 next year.

Who is Yoo Sang-hoon?

Born in 1974, Yoo graduated from Konkuk University with a degree in political science and diplomacy. He earned master's degrees in business administration and journalism from Kyung Hee University.

He joined KVIC as a founding member in 2005 — two decades inside the institution he is now set to help steer. His résumé includes team leader posts on the angel support team, investment management team 1, and innovation investment team 2. He has run the management planning division since January 2024.

In short: a career insider who knows both the policy machinery and the deal side of the fund.

What does the division actually control?

The role is considered one of the most important positions within KVIC. The division handles major investment programs across six accounts:

• the small and medium-sized enterprise account, the largest within the Korea Fund of Funds;
• the youth account;
• the regional account;
• the angel account;
• the innovation and venture account;
• the materials, parts and equipment account.

Drawing on government contributions, the division backs private venture capital firms in raising funds. That structure makes it a gatekeeper for how public money reaches private investors.

How big is the money pipeline?

The numbers are large. Cumulative sub-funds formed through those six accounts reached 34.8502 trillion won as of the end of August last year, according to the National Assembly Budget Office. That figure accounted for 75.7% of the 46.0366 trillion won in total sub-funds raised under the Korea Fund of Funds at the time.

Investments made through those sub-funds totaled 26.3154 trillion won. Three-quarters of the country's fund-of-funds machinery now runs through the accounts Yoo will manage.

What's on his desk from day one?

The mandate goes beyond administration. "Going forward, KVIC faces important tasks such as expanding investment in strategic industries including artificial intelligence and deep tech, revitalizing regional venture investment and attracting private capital," an industry official said.

The same official framed Yoo's role in direct terms: "Yoo will have to play a central role in translating the government's policy of expanding venture investment into practice and injecting vitality into the private investment market."

That puts AI, deep tech and regional venture capital at the center of his agenda, alongside pulling more private capital into a system still powered by government contributions.

Yoo takes over a unit whose six accounts already move tens of trillions of won, and his first full year — 2025 — will show whether that money shifts faster toward strategic industries.

By Grace Kim