Altos closes second Korea VC fund at $110m

Han Kim, managing director at Altos, told AVCJ that most participants were institutional investors ranging from a US university endowment to international family offices and funds-of-funds such as Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, Axiom Asia and Greenspring Associates. About 10% of the capital came from South Korea, including a commitment by internet company Naver.

KOF II achieved its first close in October 2015 and has since made investments in mobile app company Retrica, business-to-business marketplace April, and mobile fashion shopping service ZigZag. "We will continue to invest as lead in Series A deals, mostly mobile/internet companies that take advantage of the uniqueness that Korea offers," Kim said. "We are getting ready to make more [investments] over the next month or so, but those aren't closed yet."

Altos focuses on fast-growing tech start-ups in Korea and North America, typically with annual revenue in excess of $1 million. Investments range from $1-5 million and can reach up to $10 million over a company's life.

Earlier Korean investments by the firm include some dominant players in their respective fields, including e-commerce group Coupang and the food delivery service Woowa Brothers. The GP, which maintains a Seoul office, closed its first Korean fund in 2014 at a hard cap of $60 million after eight months on the market.

Increased foreign investment interest in Korea's expanding technology, media and telecom sphere has also been recently demonstrated by a $30 million commitment from Japan's SBI Holdings for VC-backed Yello Mobile.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Fundraising
• LPs
• South Korea
• Altos Ventures
• TMT