April 17, 2024

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Stonebridge Ventures, spun-off from Korean private equity firm Stonebridge Capital, will invest more in the bio industry this year, according to industry sources on March 8.

“Recently, we saw growing demand for funding in the bio industry, so we decided to hire more employees with related expertise,” a Stonebridge Ventures spokesperson told The Investor.

The company first hinted at interest in the field in March last year, when it appointed Kim Hyun-gi, who worked for Korean pharmaceutical company Dong-A ST’s biosimilar sector, as its executive director. In June last year, Stonebridge Ventures also hired Lee Hwan-young, who studied biology at Seoul National University and POSTECH, as another executive director.

“Although we cannot state the specific number of employees we plan to hire this year, we are certainly hoping to employ more workers who can evaluate the investment value of bio firms,” the company spokesperson added.

Stonebridge Ventures, known for its successful investments in the IT industry, manages assets worth around 390 billion won (US$343.3 million). The company’s internal rate of return reached 24.5 percent.

Many of its employees and executives, including recently appointed CEO Yoo Seung-woon who headed Kakao Ventures of Kakao, have expertise in the IT industry.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)