April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] SoftBank Ventures Korea, venture capital arm of the SoftBank Group, on May 3 said it has promoted Managing Director Lee Joon-pyo as its next chief executive. 

He will replace Moon Gyu-hak, who will move to SoftBank Vision Fund, the US$100 billion tech fund led by Masayoshi Son. 

SoftBank Ventures Korea CEO Lee Joon-pyo

“We plan to discover promising tech startups in various fields and locations and will continue to work closely with SoftBank’s global network to support the growth of startups,” Lee said in a statement. 

Lee is a startup veteran who founded his first startup Evixar, while studying at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology. The PC software firm, which was funded by SoftBank Ventures, was later sold to LG U+. He then served as a director of business development at GOM TV operator Gom & Co. and established another startup Enswers, a video-search firm which was later acquired by KT. In 2015, he joined SoftBank Ventures and led investments in many startups, including MyMusicTaste, Balance Hero, Lunit and twoXAR.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)