[Edaily Marketin Reporter Song Seung-Hyeon ] Director Jeong Cheol-gyun, who has been in charge of administrative operations at SBVA for 20 years, was promoted to Executive Vice President earlier this year. This marks the first time at SBVA that a non-investment analyst has been promoted to executive level. This is seen as a sign that the organizational culture of the venture capital (VC) industry—which has traditionally been centered on investment analysts—is beginning to shift, as evidenced by the recent establishment of a dedicated back-office organization.

According to the VC industry on the 7th, major VC firms are successively expanding their post-investment management, compliance, and portfolio support teams. This comes as the ability to provide substantive support for portfolio companies’ growth after an investment is made has emerged as a key differentiator among fund managers.

SBVA has been strengthening its organization by viewing management capabilities as a pillar supporting its investment activities. The promotion of staff responsible for post-investment management, compliance, and risk management to executive positions reflects this approach. The firm has also diversified its portfolio support programs this year. Last June, in collaboration with Innocean, SBVA held a growth forum for about 10 portfolio companies to discuss branding, global expansion, and business model refinement. In July, it hosted the “ICML 2026 Mixer” with AMI Labs, attended by approximately 300 AI researchers and founders, and facilitated meetings between AI and robotics portfolio companies and AMI Labs. Last month, the firm organized a session with Genspark’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to share insights on AI market and technology trends.

Some VCs have also embarked on organizational restructuring. Kakao Ventures established a new Growth Team this year dedicated to recruitment support. For portfolio companies in need of key talent, the team identifies and connects them with candidates suited to their specific growth stage; for those requiring organizational culture improvements, it assists in establishing operational systems such as evaluation, compensation, onboarding, and training. For functions that early-stage companies find difficult to internalize—such as finance, tax, and legal affairs—they connect these companies with experts through shared services, while the planning and management team proactively reviews potential risks. Since 2023, they have been operating an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program under the name VAP (Venture at Port) to collaboratively solve sales and development challenges faced by portfolio companies.

Korea Investment Accelerator (KIA) has directly established support infrastructure overseas. As part of a memorandum of understanding signed last month with the Oregon UAS Accelerator, it established the “Oregon Defense Tech Basecamp” in Portland, Oregon, as a hub for Korean defense and drone startups. This facility supports the stay of startups entering the U.S. market so they can focus on local proof-of-concept needs and building networks; it marks the first time a Korean accelerator has built such infrastructure in the U.S. It is reported that the back-office organization played a significant role in this as well.

Altos Ventures is recognized as a firm that has invested significant effort in this sector from an early stage. Recently, personnel specializing in human resources (HR) and talent acquisition (TA) have joined the team to support portfolio companies in recruiting key talent and fostering organizational growth. The firm has hosted sessions on AI development environments, as well as AX (Artificial Intelligence Transformation) salons and AX workflow sessions for portfolio company executives. It has also organized forums on the global growth of beauty and healthcare companies, along with sessions on entering the Japanese market and hiring local talent.

This trend stems from the recognition that post-investment management directly translates into investment performance. Their role is expanding beyond mere financial oversight to include support tailored to each growth stage—such as IPOs, PR, branding, global networking, and business and technology partnerships. This underscores that the entire organization’s capacity to support the portfolio has become just as important as an investment analyst’s ability to identify deals.

A VC industry insider stated, “In a frozen exit market, revitalizing existing portfolio companies leads directly to better performance than seeking new deals,” adding, “The perception of post-investment management staff as merely a cost has definitely shifted in recent years.”