[October 14, 2014]

Digital Entertainment Ventures Expands to South Korea and Forms DEV Korea Discovery Fund

Digital Entertainment Ventures (DEV), an early stage venture capital and advisory firm, has deepened its connection to the growing startup community in South Korea with the DEV Korea Discovery Fund. Backed by private funding from US investors and as well as a grant from Korea's National IT Promotion Agency (NIPA), the fund has a goal of investing in 40 Korean companies over a two-year period. The first investments were announced separately today.

DEV's involvement in the growing Korean "Creative Economy" was formalized in January of this year, with the establishment of DEV Korea with Kaine Kim and Joshua Song of the cross-border advisory firm, Acuity Partners. The Principals of DEV have made multiple trips to Korea since then to meet with start-ups, accelerators, VCs and government organizations, broadening relationships and gaining support from organizations such as Innopolis Foundation. This science and technology development resource maintains five major campuses throughout the country, and DEV Korea is working with 15 of their companies to help position them for global investment.

"It's clear to us at DEV that Korea is emerging a hotbed of activity, with a highly educated workforce and a technically sophisticated population," said Alan McGlade, founder and Managing Director of DEV. "I see a great deal of synergy between what's happenin in Seoul and New York. In fact, we opened our Seoul office in January of this year just as Bloomberg (News - Alert) ranked South Korea first in its Global Innovation Index. We have put a great team together, with Kaine Kim based in Seoul and now with Peter Sung joining us to coordinate activities between the two countries. I'm very excited about all the opportunities of this collaboration."

"This partnership of investment through DEV plus the involvement of the Korean government through NIPA is unique," said Kaine Kim, Managing Director of DEV Korea. "DEV is an early mover in recognizing the potential of this market, and making the investments that will help these companies move up to the global stage."

To coordinate the activities of the DEV Korea Discovery Fund activities between Seoul and New York, Peter Sung has joined the organization as a Director, DEV Korea Discovery Fund. An MIT (News - Alert) graduate, Sung most recently was an Associate, Venture Capital Investment at Seoul's Ilshin Investment Co., where he analyzed on international deals for the green tech VC fund. While there, he partnered with Korea's Small and Medium Business Administration to foster VC market relationships outside of the country, and also co-founded Tehran Gaming, a networking and deal-sourcing organization for VCs and gaming companies in Korea.

About DEV (Digital Entertainment Ventures)

Launched in April 2012 and headquartered in New York City, DEV provides guidance, seed and early stage capital to companies building the next generation of digital services that are transforming media and entertainment. DEV is managed by seasoned media and venture executives Alan McGlade, Michael Yang and Swatick Majumdar and its Venture Partner, Damian Manning. Recent successes include the acquisition of early DEV Fund investment Human Demand by IgnitionOne. In 2014, DEV established offices in South Korea to better take advantage of its growing creative economy and spring-board investments to the global stage. Visit DEV on the web at www.devny.vc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]